


Happy World Naked Gardening Day

by thatwriterlady



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Castiel In Love, Danger, Dead Bodies Piling Up, Dean Winchester In Love, Doctor Castiel, FBI, FBI Dean Winchester, Falling In Love, Flirty Castiel, Fluff, Getting His Boo Boos Taken Care Of, Injured Dean, M/M, Murder, Naked Gardening, Neighbors, New tags!!!, Professor Castiel, Race to Solve the Case, Shocked Dean, Stalking, Suspense, Techie Charlie, Think Criminal Minds but with Supernatural Characters, Thriller, World Naked Gardening Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-10-28 23:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10841490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterlady/pseuds/thatwriterlady
Summary: Dean's backyard is his happy place.  It's where he likes to sit with a beer and listen to baseball games on his radio in the spring and summer, while watching the wildlife that abounds on his property.  It's also where he likes to observe his gorgeous new neighbor.  He hasn't had an opportunity to say hello, until that first Saturday in May, when a series of unfortunate events puts averynaked Castiel right next to him.  And what is he to think about that?  Especially when said neighbor is even hotter up close, and proves to be a flirt?Flirt back, of course!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sam661187](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam661187/gifts).



> This is for Bekki. She has been putting ideas in my head lately, and she mentioned this one in a group yesterday, and so I whipped this up. Enjoy!
> 
> PSA: I didn't give a location for where they live, but I did some research and lo and behold, there are places in the US where nudity outdoors is legal. The most liberal of all laws is up in Oregon. So we'll just pretend they're there, and that spring came early for them like it did here in the midwest. ;)
> 
> Also, I'll put up a collage later, when I have more wifi.
> 
> ***EDITED NOTE***
> 
> So I thought this was going to be a one shot and that would be that, but it took on a life of its own. So I moved the location to Virginia, close to Quantico, and we're going to pretend there are nudity laws. It's my fic and ill do what I want.

**Happy World Naked Gardening Day~**

 

There was nothing Dean loved more than sitting on the deck in his backyard relaxing on the porch swing, a beer in one hand, the radio sitting on the table next to him, broadcasting whatever game happened to be on that day.  Not too many stations still broadcasted games anymore, but he much preferred to listen to it and let it become background chatter while he watched the world around him. 

 

Most people liked to sit on their front porches and people watch.  Not Dean though, he did enough of that at work.  No, he much preferred his backyard, and the animals that he had come to care for.  He had a big oak tree in one corner that shaded most of his yard, and he’d hung a bunch of bird feeders from it.  There was a bird bath in the corner, and a large pond in the center of the yard, complete with thick foliage on three sides that allowed the mama duck that came back year after year to lay her eggs a safe place to have her nest.  He had put in some bushes as cover a few years earlier for the wild rabbits and the resident opossum.  His vegetable and flower gardens were thriving, and at the tail end of winter, since everything had warmed up so quickly, he had planted thousands of wild flower seeds.  Now he had butterflies, bees, and the most beautiful orb weavers he’d ever seen visiting him.  His backyard was his happy place. 

 

Another reason he enjoyed sitting out here was he had a new neighbor.  He knew everyone in the neighborhood, and was on friendly terms with most of them, but he hadn’t had the opportunity yet to meet the new guy that had moved into the house next door.  He’d moved in over the winter, when Dean was pulling a series of doubles just so he could get vacation time to go and visit his mom.  One day the house next door had been empty, the next it wasn’t.  He’d heard from Lisa Braeden across the street that the man was a professor, that he taught religious studies and history at the university.  That had sort of put Dean off at first, and he hadn’t gone out of his way to meet the man.  Anyone that taught religion, he reasoned, was probably some kind of bible thumper, and even though he’d been seeing the man coming and going a few times since the weather had gotten warm enough to be able to sit outside and enjoy the warm spring air, he hadn’t done much more than nod in the man’s direction.  The thing was, the man was extremely attractive, with dark hair that seemed to always look windblown, and a face he was pretty sure had been chiseled by the Gods.  And then there those lips.  The man was gorgeous, but Dean wasn’t willing to risk flirting with a religious man who was more than likely straight.  He’d just admire from a distance.

 

It was early on the first Saturday in May, and Dean had the day off.  He woke to the sound of the birds singing near his open bedroom window and after a leisurely stretch, he hauled himself out of bed and went to get the coffee started.

 

Quacking drew his attention but the window in the kitchen didn’t look out over the backyard.  Instead, it gave him a view of the neighbor’s white siding.  After putting on a pair of basketball shorts (foregoing a tee shirt, the morning was already over 70 and due to get much hotter), he filled his cup with fresh coffee and stepped out onto his deck.  He smiled as he saw the ducks in the pond with their babies.  Later he’d put out some feed for them.  A fat bumblebee floated past his nose on its way to investigate his roses, and he followed it with his eyes as it flew towards the pink and yellow roses already in bloom.  The winter had been so mild that it had triggered a ridiculously early spring so all of his spring flowers had begun to bloom at the end of February, and the roses had started in March.  The only downside he saw to that was that the flowers would die earlier, but for now, he was still enjoying a yard filled with color.  Movement beyond his line of sight drew his attention and he pulled his gaze away from the bee to see what was going on in the next yard.

 

At the same moment that his jaw dropped, his coffee cup slipped from his fingers and fell to the deck floor, splashing his bare feet with hot coffee.  He barely noticed though.  All he could concentrate on was the naked man in the yard next door.  Well, he wasn’t _completely_ naked.  The professor was wearing a sunhat and a gardening apron.  Oh, and gardening gloves.  And that was it.  He had his back to Dean as he worked in his elevated vegetable gardens.  The crash of the cup caught his attention though, and he jumped, spinning around to stare at Dean with wide eyes.

 

“Oh!  I didn’t know anyone was out here.”  His cheeks flushed red in what would have ordinarily been a very attractive way, except Dean was rooted to the spot in shock.

 

“Um, are you ok?”  The professor (Dean hadn’t bothered learning his name, he figured eventually they’d say hello, but that would be it.  No interest for bible thumpers, or so he thought) slowly approached the fence, awkwardly tugging the very short apron down more.  It was barely covering his junk so it was more that he waddled towards the divide between their yards.

 

“What?”  Dean blinked, finally coming back to himself.  That was when the pain from the burns on his feet kicked in, making him hiss and look down to see the angry, red welts that covered most of his right foot and part of his left.

 

“You were drinking something hot?  Are you hurt?” 

 

Dean looked from his feet to the naked man looking worriedly at him.

 

“I’m fine.  Why exactly are you _naked_?” 

 

The professor blinked and looked down at his apron.  Dean got the distinct impression that he was going to argue that by wearing the apron he wasn’t _truly_ naked but instead he simply tugged it down as much as he could. 

 

“It’s, um, World Naked Gardening Day.”

 

“You’re kidding, right?  That has to be a joke.”  Dean scoffed in disbelief.  Who the hell gardened in the nude?!

 

“It’s very real.  This is my third year doing it.”  The professor replied firmly.  Dean got the distinct impression he had no shame where his nudeness was concerned, but that he was attempting to spare Dean the embarrassment by continually tugging the apron down.  It really was too small…

 

Dean had no idea how to respond to that.  He went to take a step back, to head inside and treat his burns when his foot came down on a piece of the broken cup.  The next thing he knew he was crashing to the deck floor, his knee landing on another piece of the broken porcelain.

 

“Fuck!”  He howled as he rolled away from the glass and onto his back.  There was blood everywhere, more than he would have expected, and short of crawling into the house, he couldn’t reach the first aid kit under the first floor bathroom sink.  He eyed the door, wondering what his best move would be when the sound of footsteps coming up the deck stairs startled him.  He turned to see his naked neighbor crouching down beside him with a handful of towels and a box.

 

“Damn, that’s bad.”  The man muttered as he grabbed Dean’s foot and pressed one of the towels against it.  “I think you cut the ligament.”

 

Dean was caught off guard by the fact that the man had just said “damn”.  Not what he’d expected.

 

“How can you tell?”

 

“I was pre-med before I changed my major.  Decided after interning I didn’t really have the stomach for everything that comes through a hospital, so I have treated similar injuries in the past.  This for certain needs stitches, and the ligament checked.  Oh, you hurt your knee too?”  He checked the wound for any glass before pulling a bottle of water out of the box.  Dean groaned when he poured some over the cut.

 

“This isn’t as bad as the foot but it will still need a couple of stitches.”

 

Dean watched as the man pulled out an ice pack, cracked it to release the chemicals that would make it cold, and laid it over the foot with the worse burns.

 

“What’s your name?  I don’t think calling you “my naked neighbor” is going to cut it.” 

 

The man laughed as he worked to stop the bleeding in Dean’s foot.

 

“My name is Castiel.  Most people call me Cas though.”

 

“I’m Dean.”

 

“Ah, the cop.”  Cas nodded knowingly.  Dean hissed as more pressure was applied to his foot.

 

“Not exactly.  I’m FBI.  You’re a professor, right?”

 

“Mmm, yes.  I teach several courses at the university.  I wanted to move here to be closer to my brother and his family, but they could only hire me this year if I taught a few specific courses.  So I got stuck teaching Religious Studies.  I’m a history and government teacher.  Next year I’ll be more in my element.  European history and anthropology.”  Cas explained.  Dean felt a little stupid for jumping to conclusions about the handsome man currently tending to his injuries. 

 

“Being near family is good.  Got a brother of my own out here too.  He’s a lawyer.  My youngest brother is in Illinois though, in his last year of graduate school.”

 

Cas smiled softly at him before switching out the blood soaked towel for a new one.  He poured more of the water over the gash and Dean realized it wasn’t water at all, it was saline.  Regardless, it hurt like a son of a bitch.

 

“Have you lived here long?”  He asked.

 

“I bought this place seven years ago.”  Dean replied.  Cas’ gaze was drawn towards the pond at the sound of splashing.  His smile widened.

 

“Your yard is lovely.  I’ve admired it from a distance while I worked on my own, but it’s even nicer seeing it like this, from your deck.  Are those your ducks?”

 

“Nah, but I sort of named them anyway.  They come back every year.  Going on five years now.  About a year after I put the pond in.”  Dean replied.

 

“What are their names?  Do they answer to them?”

 

Dean smiled as he looked out towards the pond.

 

“Ron and Hermione.  They know their names.  They beg for treats and complain when I don’t have any.”

 

“That’s so cute.  What do you give them for treats?”  Cas asked, turning to look at him again.  Dean was momentarily taken aback by just how blue they were.

 

“Uh, lettuce, shredded carrots, peas, stuff like that.  And some chicken feed.  Technically I’m not supposed to, they could be considered wild birds, but I don’t think they actually are.  Neighbors down the road keep chickens and ducks and the same year they lost a pair, it’s the same year I gained a pair.  They know I have them, and they’re ok with it.  I even made a duck house, under the tree there.”  Dean nodded towards the box.  “But they don’t really use it.  They prefer to stay in the plants by the water.”

 

“That’s amazing.  I would love to have as much wildlife come visit as you have.  I was forced to raise my vegetable gardens though.  Your bunnies kept eating my seedlings, so I Googled how to make a raised garden, and I spent a weekend building a couple.  So far, so good, they can’t reach them.”  Cas said.

 

“I put wire around mine, but there’s plenty else in my yard for them to eat.  I like watching them hop around at night.”  Dean jerked his foot and winced as Cas took a moment to investigate the mostly clean cut.

 

“Ok, so.  You’re going to need to go to at least urgent care, if not the hospital.  I can drive you, that way you can elevate your foot.  You need to keep your weight off of it.”

 

Dean wanted to argue.  He could drive himself, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t put shoes on, both of his feet were burned.  His sergeant was going to be ticked.  Getting hurt in the line of duty was one thing.  Freaking out over his naked neighbor and dropping a burning hot cup of coffee was another matter entirely.  His boss was going to laugh at him.  Maybe he could leave out the naked neighbor part and chalk it up to a slip of his hand.  Looking down at Cas as he began wrapping the injured foot in a bandage, he realized the man was still naked, save for that gardening apron.

 

“You, uh, naked a lot?”

 

Cas snorted and shrugged, but Dean could see a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

 

“I suppose you could say that.  I’m naked under my clothes most of the time.”

 

Dean barked out a laugh of surprise.

 

“Ha ha.  You know what I mean.”

 

Cas grinned as he sealed the bandage with medical tape.  “I’m not a huge fan of clothing.  If I have to wear them, I prefer for them to be loose fitting.”

 

Dean could understand that one, it was why he was currently wearing a pair of loose basketball shorts.  _Only_ a pair of basketball shorts.  He supposed he was on the same level as Cas since the man technically _was_ wearing his apron.

 

“And you like gardening naked?  Aren’t you worried about bugs?  Dirt?  Stuff like that?”

 

“I am wearing an apron.”  Cas said.

 

“But…”  Dean scrubbed a hand down his face.  This was not a conversation he was bound to win.  Suddenly the other man laughed and he dropped his hand to look at him.

 

“I am wearing a natural insect repellant that is not harmful to beneficial bugs.  Do I smell sort of woodsy to you?” 

 

Now that he mentioned it, he did, so Dean said as much.

 

“I get cedar oil by the gallon.  I spray my yard to get rid of grubs, and I put it around my porch to keep away things like roaches.  I am currently dealing with wood cockroaches in my trees, and I’m sorry, they creep me out really bad.  I spray myself with the oil when I’m outside, and when I go back inside, I just take a shower and relax.”  Cas sat back on his haunches and Dean tried not to look at the way the apron flipped up and his family jewels were partially on display.

 

“So, I’ll go put some clothes on and we’ll get you to the hospital.  Sound good?”

 

Dean nodded numbly and watched as Cas got to his feet.

 

“Alright.  It will only take me a couple of minutes.  Don’t move.”  He waggled his index finger at Dean in warning, and Dean noticed his hand was covered in blood.

 

“Take a sec and wash your hands too.  So you don’t get blood on your clothes.  I’m sorry about that.”

 

“You have nothing to apologize for.  I’ll be back in just a minute.”

 

Dean watched as Cas hurried down the steps, and then in one fluid movement, he leapt over the fence and into his own yard.  As Cas hurried up the stairs into his own house, he was whipping his apron off.  Dean saw _everything_.

 

“Ugh, why does he have to be so hot?”  He groaned as he dropped onto the deck and stared up at the sky. 

 

Cas was fast.  He was hopping back over the fence in under five minutes, wearing a Pokémon tee shirt and cargo shorts. 

 

“You need a shirt.”  He declared.

 

“I need my wallet and at least some flip flops too.”  Dean said.

 

“Right.  So, let me clean this up real quick.”  Cas knelt down carefully beside him and picked up the pieces of broken coffee mug while Dean pulled himself back up into a sitting position. 

 

“Garbage is right there.”  Dean nodded towards a can in the corner with a locking lid.

 

“Raccoon issues?”  Cas asked as he opened it and dropped the pieces in.

 

“In the past, yes.  When they become an issue, I trap them and release them a few miles out into the country.  They killed a duckling one year.  I won’t tolerate that.”  Dean replied.  He tried to get to his feet by balancing first on his knees but he had forgotten about the cut on his knee.  Before he could topple over on his face, Cas was at his side, an arm wrapped around his waist to pull him back before he hurt himself even worse.

 

“Patience.  I was going to help you up.”  Cas said softly as he managed to get Dean up onto his good foot.  The one with the cut ached something fierce, and it was burning horribly.  He was afraid to put any weight on it.  Cas grabbed his arm and slung it over his own shoulder.

 

“I’ll get you inside, but you sit and just tell me where to grab things.  I promise, I’m an honest man, I won’t take anything.”

 

Dean ended up leaning heavily on the man as they went inside.

 

“Kitchen’s that way.”  He nodded down the hall and Cas took him to it.  Dean dropped into the first chair Cas pulled out for him.

 

“Where can I get you a clean shirt?”

 

“Laundry room is at the top of the stairs, last door on the left.  I have some shirts in the dryer.”

 

“And flip flops?” 

 

Dean pointed towards the living room.  “I have a pair by the door.”

 

“What about your wallet?”  Cas was already backing up towards the stairs to the second floor.

 

“Nightstand next to my bed.  Would you grab my phone too?”

 

Cas nodded and hurried upstairs.  Dean worried that the man might think he was a freak for all the Star Wars and gaming collectibles he had on the bookshelves in his room.  He didn’t have long to worry though, because Cas was back in a little more than a minute, holding out a shirt and the wallet and phone.

 

“Sit tight, ok?  I have something that will help you get around better.  I’m going to pull my car into your driveway, and then I’ll be right back.  Do not move from this chair.”  He ordered.

 

“Yeah, ok.”  Dean shrugged the tee shirt on, pleased to see it was his Zep that had been chosen, and sat back to check his phone while he waited for Cas to return.

 

It was less than 10 minutes later before Cas was back, pushing a weird sort of scooter in front of him.

 

“What’s that?” 

 

“I broke my ankle skydiving a few years back and I got this to get around.  I still had to teach, but standing and walking was almost impossible.  This gave me back my mobility.  And trust me, it’ infinitely preferable to crutches.”  Cas moved the scooter closer and helped Dean stand up again.  The thing had a pad in the center for Dean to rest his knee on.  He found it was pretty comfortable.  Grabbing the handles he turned it around and followed Cas out of the kitchen and through the dining room and living room where Cas paused long enough to grab the flip flops.  He dropped one on the floor for Dean to slip his foot into, the other he held under his arm.

 

Getting down the stairs was trickier, and it required a bit of hopping, but then Cas let him use the scooter to get to the car where he opened the door for him.  Once inside, he folded the scooter down and put it in the backseat.  Then they were on the road, driving to the nearest hospital.

 

“Do you think I’ll need surgery?”  Dean asked worriedly.

 

“That remains to be seen.  From what I can tell, there is a damaged ligament.  It needs to be repaired and that may require surgery.  It will also take time to heal.  You can’t overwork it before it’s fully healed or it will tear again.  I understand you are in a line of work that has you on your feet a lot, but you’ll need to take it easy for a while.”  Cas explained.  Dean sighed.  His own ridiculousness had gotten him into this predicament.  Yeah, his sergeant was going to have a good laugh at his expense.  After he reamed him a new one for cutting the staff short.

 

“I’ll do my best.” 

 

The drive to the hospital was only 10 minutes, and then Cas was pulling into a parking spot near the emergency room.  He pulled the scooter out and let Dean use that to get into the hospital.  After checking in and taking seats in the waiting room, they got to talking.

 

“So, this World Naked Gardening Day thing, it’s legit?”  Dean asked.

 

“It is.  Google it if you don’t believe me.”

 

“You’re lucky they’re lax on nudity here.  Not like people walk around town butt naked or anything, but you’ll occasionally see some free titties, or a butt here and there.”  Dean said.

 

“And do you ever dress down like that?”  Cas asked with a cocky smirk on his lips.

 

“Me?  Nah.  I try to always wear something on my lower half.  Plus it’s frowned upon by the FBI for its agents to run around naked.”

 

“That’s a shame.  It’s really very freeing.”

 

“Are you a nudist or something?”  The words were out of Dean’s mouth before he could check himself, but Cas didn’t seem bothered.

 

“Eh, maybe a bit.  I wear clothes more often than not.  It’s societal standards that have taught people to be ashamed of their bodies.  I don’t flaunt it, but I don’t hide it either, especially in my own home.” 

 

Dean could understand that.  He walked around naked, or mostly naked quite often in his own home.  The ache in his foot was damn near unbearable, and seeing the pain on his face, Cas grabbed another chair and pulled it over.  He lifted Dean’s leg and rested it on the barely soft cushion.

 

“At least they’re not too busy.  Someone should see you pretty soon.”  He said, looking around at the nearly empty waiting room.

 

“You don’t have to stay, I can call my brother.  I thank you for getting me here.”  Dean told him.  He already felt like an idiot, and now a nuisance as well.  Cas just waved him off.

 

“Nonsense.  I’m here, I have nowhere to be and nothing to do.  Plus I’d just be sitting at home worrying.  If I’m here, I get an update faster.” 

 

Dean looked at him, studying his face for a long moment before accepting his answer.

 

“Ok.  And thanks.”

 

They fell silent for a few minutes before Cas spoke up again.

 

“I have met a few of the neighbors.  Mr. Shurley across the street, Ms. Braeden who lives next door to him, and a very nice man named Garth.  He mentioned his wife several times but didn’t tell me her name.  I saw her leaving one day though.  The couple on the other side of me, I don’t think they work days, or else they travel a lot.  I’ve glimpsed them, but that’s about it.”

 

“You moved into a pretty good neighborhood.  Nice people.  It’s a mixture of families and single people.  Chuck Shurley and his wife Becky have two little ones, Lisa Braeden is a single mom with a 10 year old boy, Garth and Bess have a newborn.  Cute little guy.  I babysit for them on date night sometimes.  On the other side of me is Old Man Turner.  Rufus.  He will come off as highly unpleasant, but he’s a softie underneath.  Find a topic he’s interested in and he opens right up.  For the record, that’s any kind of sport except hockey, and collecting antiques.  The man has more tchotchkes than I’ve ever seen in my life.  On the other side of Chuck and Becky is Carmen Lopez.  She’s recently divorced and on the prowl.  Just to give you a heads up.  Next to Carmen is my buddy Victor.  He’s on the force with me.  He and his wife Tanisha have three of the cutest kids you’ll ever see.  I babysit for them on their date night quite often.”

 

Cas smiled.  “I take it you like children.”

 

“I do.  I don’t have any of my own, so I spoil everyone else’s.  I babysat a time or two for Lisa when she’d go on dates, but she kind of got interested in me, so I stopped offering.  I still help Ben build stuff for school projects, and I came to his school for career day last year, but I don’t babysit.” 

 

“You’re not interested in her?”  Cas asked.

 

“She’s not my type.”  Dean didn’t elaborate beyond that.

 

“Well, she flirted with me when I met her.  I had to let her down gently.”

 

Dean turned to look at him.  “You have a girlfriend.”

 

Cas smiled wider.  “No, I’m not attracted to women.”

 

Dean blinked for a second before it clicked what he was saying.

 

“Oh, ha, yeah.  Same thing I had to tell her.”

 

“Are you-”

 

Cas was interrupted by Dean’s name being called.

 

“Here!  I’m here!”

 

With help from Cas, he got to his feet.  A nurse appeared with a wheelchair and he gratefully sat down in it.

 

“Come with?  You know better than me what I did.”  Dean asked, looking up at Cas.

 

“Of course.”  Cas patted his shoulder and folded up the scooter so he could carry it.  He followed behind the nurse as she took him to a bay. 

 

The next hour was a nightmare.  Dean listened to Cas talk with the nurse and then the doctor, and he learned just how bad he’d injured himself.  His knee did need two stitches, which wasn’t so bad, but his foot needed surgery.  With a defeated sigh, he texted his brother to tell him what was happening.  If he could spare telling his mother until _after_ the surgery, he would.  Knowing his luck though, his brother would immediately call her. 

 

Dean ended up being admitted and the surgery scheduled for three that afternoon.  Cas went with up to his room.

 

“Do you have any pets or anything that need being taken care of tonight?”  He was asking.

 

“No, I’m allergic to cats and I don’t have the time for a dog or anything else.  It’s why I love the critters in my yard.  Which, by the way, could you feed the koi in the pond?  I didn’t’ get a chance to.  Feed is in the bench on the deck.  You’ll find a bag of chicken feed and a bag of koi pellets in there.  There’s a bowl by the pond for the ducks.  Just fill it.  As for the koi, grab a couple handfuls and sprinkle them evenly over the water.”  Dean tried to think if there was anything else to worry about.  He could water his plants tomorrow when he got home.  “I think that’s really it.”

 

“I’ll do that for you.  Once you go into surgery I’ll head home, make sure your house is locked up, and feed the ducks and fish.”  Cas promised.

 

“You don’t have to stay that long.”  Dean was surprised by the man’s offer but again Cas just waved his concern off.

 

“It’s perfectly fine.  I can do my naked gardening later.”

 

“Wish I could be there to see that properly.”  Dean muttered to himself.

 

“You want me to wait until tomorrow instead?”  Cas grinned and Dean realized that perhaps he hadn’t been as quiet as he’d thought.

 

“What?  Um, I’m, wait…”

 

Cas broke out laughing.

 

“Relax, hot stuff.  It’s a shame you don’t do naked gardening.”  He winked, laughing even more at the how red Dean’s cheeks got. 

 

“God, no.  I’d probably get a bee in my ass or something.”  He draped one arm over his eyes in a vain attempt to hide his embarrassment.

 

“Well, I _am_ a doctor…”

 

Dean laughed, he couldn’t help it. 

 

“You have the title and everything?”

 

“I’m technically Dr. Novak.  I also hold a doctorate in history.”

 

“That’s a lot of school.”  Dean noted.  Cas hummed in agreement.

 

“Way too fucking long.”

 

Dean chuckled.  The nurse had numbed his foot for the doctor’s exam and prodding, so for the moment it wasn’t bothering him.  He looked over at Cas who was sitting in a chair against the wall, his legs crossed and his arms folded over one knee, watching him.

 

“See something you like there, agent?”  He teased.  Dean arched an eyebrow and grinned. Flirting with his neighbor could be dangerous, but it could be fun. 

 

“Hell yeah.”

 

Cas’ laughter was rich and beautiful.  The man was delighted and made no attempt to hide it.

 

“I like you, Dean.  Even if you’re clumsy.”

 

“I’ve never had naked gardening neighbors before.  You’re definitely a refreshing change from Mrs. Golding who was 91 and smelled of mothballs and cat pee.  Does the house smell like cat pee?”  Dean asked.

 

“No, but thank you for the heads up.  I was debating on pulling up the carpets.  Now I know I will.  I try not to turn on the air unless I have to, and a warm house smelling of cat pee is rather gross.”  Cas wrinkled his nose at the thought. 

 

“I could help.”  Dean offered.  Another smiled graced Cas’ lips.

 

“I’d like that.  But we’ll wait until your foot is healed.  A summer with air won’t kill me.”

 

Sam called a few minutes later, the worry wort that he was, and despite Dean’s argument that he didn’t need to come to the hospital, he insisted anyway.  Turned out he was already halfway to the hospital when he called and walked in only a few minutes later.  He eyed Cas for only a moment before walking over to his brother.

 

“How did you cut your foot?  Was there something in your yard?”  He lifted the blanket and grimaced at the burns.  “And how did you burn your foot?”

 

“I’m talented, man.  I had just got a cup of coffee, stepped out on the deck and, uh, the cup slipped.  Hit the deck, splashed on me.  The pain from the burn startled me and I backed up right onto a piece.  Then I fell.  Cut my knee too, but they already stitched that up.”  Dean looked over at Cas who was covering his mouth with one hand to hide his smile. 

 

“Hi, I’m Sam, but I’m sure Dean probably already told you that.  Are you…his new boyfriend?”  Sam was taking a shot in the dark as he offered Cas his hand.  Cas smiled wider as he shook it.

 

“My name is Cas.  I just moved in next door to your brother.  And no, not his boyfriend.”  Cas’ eyes drifted over to Dean.  “But there’s potential.”

 

“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you.”  Sam said.  Cas looked up at him and smiled.

 

“It’s very nice to meet you too.”

 

Dean settled back in his hospital bed as his brother and Cas started talking about their jobs and lives in general.  He was perfectly content to listen as they got to know one another.  There was something about Cas.  The man was totally different from anyone he’d met before, but he had a pretty good feeling that things were going to be nothing but interesting.  Especially when it came to gardening.

 

“Oh?  You guys are going out next weekend?” 

 

That caught Dean’s attention and he looked over at them with raised eyebrows.

 

“We’re going out?”

 

“Unless you have to work, yes.  I thought maybe you’d like to go to the nursery with me to look at flowers.  All organically grown, with no GMO’s.  Besides, I could use another apron.”  Cas winked at him, the son of a bitch.

 

“Yeah, ok.  I’m picking out the apron though.  I think something shorter would be better.”  He winked back, making Cas burst out laughing.

 

“Am I missing something?”  Sam asked, confused.

 

“Nothing you want in on, trust me.”  Dean told him, almost giggling as he tried to rein in his laughter.

 

“He’s right, nothing you would have wanted in on.”  Cas said as he sobered from his own laughter.

 

“You know what?  I think you’re perfect for my brother, you’re both obnoxious.”  Sam complained, and that was absolutely _hysterical_ to Dean. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas takes Dean out the following weekend as promised, and they go to visit the greenhouse together. Afterwards, they head out to have lunch together. Dean still isn't quite sure what to make of the handsome professor, but he definitely wants to get to know him better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, there is more. Not sure how long this will be, or when updates will happen. Just keep an eye out, that's all I can recommend. :)

The following weekend Cas showed up on Dean’s doorstep smiling wide and wearing a tank top with cargo shorts.  And of course, flip flops.  Dean was doing better with his pain management and he wanted to get out for the day.  After the surgery on his foot, he’d been put on bed rest, but he was starting to go stir crazy.  There was no infection, especially with Cas coming every day to check and clean it, and Monday the stitches were coming out.  He still had the scooter Cas had lent him and managed to get around the house just fine.  Chores got done, he was still cooking for himself, and he was able to enjoy his yard, all thanks to his sexy neighbor.  Now that same neighbor was standing on his porch looking incredibly delicious and like he belonged on a beach instead of ready to go to a greenhouse.  The dazzling smile on his face chased away the bit of frustration Dean had been dealing with after mistakenly forgetting he had an injured foot and trying to stand on it as he got up from bed.  He’d gotten a sobering wakeup call after nearly face planting on the floor.  Some ibuprofen, coffee, and a fluffy omelet had helped improve his mood, but Cas’ smile chased the last of the dark clouds away.

 

“Hey.”  He greeted him warmly.

 

“Good morning.  How are you feeling?”  Cas asked.

 

“Well, I made a stupid mistake this morning, but other than that, I’m ok.”  He replied. 

 

“What kind of mistake?”  Cas asked as he stepped back so Dean could come out onto the front porch.

 

“I forgot about my foot this morning and tried to stand as I got out of bed.  Ended up falling, but I threw myself backwards and landed on the bed instead of the floor, otherwise I’d have called and had to reschedule.”

 

Cas’ smiled faded as his expression turned serious.

 

“How are you now though?”

 

“Ibuprofen helped.  Just the usual occasional throbbing.”  Dean replied.  Cas looked down at the foot on the ground.  Since burning both of his feet, the doctor had advised him to wear flip flops, to give his skin the time it needed to heal.  The burns didn’t bother him anymore, unless he tried to put another kind of shoe on, so he just stuck to the flip flops.

 

“Well, burns are looking better every day.  How much longer are you on desk work?”  Cas asked as he helped Dean down the stairs.

 

“Three more weeks.  It’s not as annoying as I was expecting.  I’m catching up on files.  It’s been giving me time to focus on a case that I’ve been working on for a while.  Might have a new lead.  That’s about the only good thing.  It’s mostly just boring.”  Dean grunted as he hopped down the last step, and then Cas was putting the scooter in front of him again.

 

“That’s good.  Progress is good.”  Cas opened the passenger door of his car and waited for Dean to get in so he could close the scooter and put it in the backseat.

 

“So where is this place exactly?”

 

“It’s about an hour west of here.  The owner has a huge farm where he grows a variety of flowers, in the fields and in the greenhouse.  He has fields of native flowers and sells those too.  The place is very nice.  He sells honey and homemade lemonade, but some other stuff too.  I found it by accident when I lived in Piedmont.  When I chose my current house, I wanted to make sure I could still reach his farm.  All of my plants come from there.  I won’t buy them anywhere else.”  Cas replied.

 

“Place sounds nice.  I made a list of plants I want to look for and get pricing on.  I’m thinking of adding some more berry bushes.”  Dean said.

 

“He has all kinds of berries.  I want some as well.”

 

They drove to the farm, chatting casually about work, gardening, family, and whatever else came to mind.  Dean learned that Cas was the third oldest of six kids, and that he was a twin (that part intrigued him some).  He had two older brothers a younger sister, and a younger brother.  Cas’ parents were hippies, living in a house on a large plot of land where they grew sunflowers and raised bees.  Dean found himself wondering if maybe they weren’t growing some pot too from the way Cas described them. 

 

In return Cas learned that Dean had two younger brothers, three and a half and twelve years younger.  His parents were divorced, his mom an editor for a newspaper who was close to retirement, and his father, ex-military, mechanic with his own shop.  His brother Sam was a lawyer, his brother Adam, who had a different mom, was a physical trainer and massage therapist. 

 

Cas learned that Dean was openly bisexual, though his father had never fully come to understand how that even worked.  Still, he had made an effort to support Dean in every way possible and he was just as polite to the men his son dated as he was to the women.  Dean appreciated that.  Dean learned in return that Cas was not restricted by gender in regards to his attraction to others.  He was attracted to personality more than looks, even though he had told Dean several times that he was also physically attracted to him.  For Cas, there had to be an overall attraction before he acted on it.  He admitted openly that he found Dean extremely attractive, both in intelligence, personality, and looks.  Dean considered himself lucky.  He felt the same way.

 

Since coming home from the hospital, Cas had been stopping by after work to check on him and see if he needed anything.  Sometimes they had dinner together, sometimes they’d just chat for a few minutes before Cas had to leave and go grade papers.  But always after he had checked Dean’s stitches.  Dean liked the company.  It was a pleasant distraction from the pain.

 

“I was thinking.”  Cas said as they turned onto the road that led to the farm.

 

“About?”  Dean prompted.

 

“How does lunch sound?  After we leave here.”  Cas said.

 

“Sure, lunch sounds good.”  Dean agreed.

 

“Good.”  Cas sounded pleased.  “Besides, I’d like our first date to consist of more than just perusing plants.”

 

Dean chuckled and shook his head fondly.  Cas was a flirt, and that was so unlike anyone he’d ever dated before.  The man kept him on his toes. 

 

“How about we find an outdoor café?  The weather is nice and I think it would be nice to eat outside.”

 

“We can do that.  I know a nice place, if you don’t mind heading a little further north to Piermont.”  Cas glanced over to see him nodding.

 

They parked on the grass so Dean wouldn’t have to try and push the scooter over the gravel, and then Cas got it out and set it in front of him.  It was a little trickier to push the scooter over the grass and Cas hovered close by, watching for rocks or anything else that could trip the scooter up and send Dean sprawling. 

 

The greenhouse loomed before them, larger than any Dean had ever seen before, and his green eyes were bright with excitement as they walked in.  It was warm and a little humid and Dean was glad that the floors inside were solid instead of dirt.  Looking down, they appeared to be some sort of locking flooring.  Cas was close, his hand resting low on Dean’s back as they walked up the first aisle.

 

“Castiel, you brought someone with you this time.”

He turned at the sound of his voice.

 

“Cain, hello.  And yes I did.  Dean enjoys gardening as much as I do, so I thought this would be an appropriate first date.”  Cas explained.  Dean noted a twinkle in Cain’s eye as he approached, and something that might be disappointment, though he hid it well.  Dean was just very good at reading people.

 

“Well, you came to the right place for plants.  I have some of last year’s honey still available too, if you’re interested.  I know how much you like it.”  Cain walked between the aisles until he reached them.  He noticed Dean’s scooter at that point.

 

“Oh, did you hurt yourself?”

 

“Stepped on glass.  Needed surgery to fix it.”  Dean explained. 

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.  I hope you’re healing well.” 

 

“I am.  Got a great doctor taking care of me.”  Dean winked at Cas who offered up another of his dazzling smiles.  God he was beautiful.

 

“Well, that’s good.  I’m glad you’re getting better.”  Cain was affable, though something rubbed Dean wrong about him.  His lingering glances towards Cas were bothering Dean, even though Cas seemed relatively oblivious to them.  Dean found himself wondering if it was simply that Cain was interested in him, or if they’d had something together in the past.  The second thought bothered him too. 

 

Cas still had his hand on Dean’s back though, and he was leaning close as he pointed out various plants. 

 

“Cain, what do you have that would do well in shade, but is a perennial?  I’m leaning towards purple or blue.”  He asked.

 

The next half hour was spent going over plants that they were interested in.  Anything they selected, Cain took outside so it could be loaded into the car later.  They perused everything inside the greenhouse before moving outside where they found berry bushes, roses, and the wildflowers.  Cain had stayed behind in the greenhouse to help customers that came to buy honey and handmade goods, so Dean was finally left alone with Cas.

 

“Can I ask you a question?”  Dean ventured once he was sure they were out of earshot of anyone that might deem to listen in, including Cain.

 

“Of course you can.”  Cas turned to face him as he sat down on the bench on the scooter.  His good leg was starting to become strained from use.

 

“Did you date Cain?  If I’m overstepping here, I’m sorry.  I just…I notice the way he looks at you.  It feels like there’s either something there, or he wishes there was.”  Dean picked at a spot on his jeans, a very small imperfection his fingers found and plucked at as he spoke.  Cas reached out, brushing his fingers through Dean’s hair and smiled.

 

“He wishes.  I was never interested.  He’s nice and the honey he sells is fabulous, not to mention how amazing all of his plants are, but there’s something about him that puts me off.  He asked a few times, but I politely declined.  I’m particular about the people I date.”

 

Dean smiled up at him.  For some reason it felt a little less uncomfortable knowing that Cas wasn’t interested in Cain, and never had been.

 

“Yeah, me too.” 

 

Cas smiled wider.  “But you like ‘em naked.”

 

Dean laughed easily.  He found himself doing that more often with Cas.

 

“Eventually, I do.  I don’t usually get to see them naked _before_ I get to go out with them.”

 

“Well, like I’ve said before, I’m not ashamed of my body, and it’s freeing to be able to go naked.”  Cas moved closer until he was standing between Dean’s legs.  “Of course, it’s always more fun to be naked _with_ someone.”

 

Dean wrapped a hand around the back of Cas’ thigh since he was not at the right angle to touch his back.  Muscles flexed under his fingertips and he just _knew_ the handsome professor was not wearing underwear under his shorts.  His hand rested just above the back of Cas’ knee.  It felt intimate, but he liked the way Cas responded to his touch.  He seemed to need to be in physical contact as he was currently playing with the shorter hairs on the back of Dean’s neck.

 

“It is fun to be naked with someone else.”  He agreed.

 

“Mmm, we’ll build up to activities outside of gardening that can be done naked.”  Cas said.

 

“That works for me.  I’m a patient man.”

 

Cas snorted.  “I’m not, but for this?  Yeah, I can be.”

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

With a trunk full of plants, berry bushes, jars of honey and handmade pot holders (a gift for Dean’s mother), they set off to go enjoy a nice lunch together.  The café Cas had chosen was nice, and the outdoor tables were all covered with umbrellas, shading them from the intensity of the midday sun.  They were seated at a table that gave them a view of the ocean, and Dean found himself genuinely relaxing. 

 

Cas was easy to talk to, open, and just downright sweet.  It was a refreshing change from the people Dean usually dated.  Ever aware of people and their reactions, Dean noticed that despite attractive people all around them, Cas’ attention remained on him.  He didn’t even look at anyone else.  After ordering their food, they sat back to chat.

 

“So.  You told me you’re a twin.  Is it a brother?  You never said.  All you did say was that you were a twin.”  Dean was curious. 

 

“No, sister, Naomi.  She has the same dark hair as me, and big blue eyes, she’s just not as much fun.”  Cas said with a smirk.

 

“What does she do for a living?” Dean asked.

 

“She’s a chemical engineer.  She’s married with four kids.  If it weren’t for our older brother Gabriel I think she’d be telling me regularly how immature I am, but Gabe has everyone in the family beat.  I went to college, I earned enough degrees for an army, I learned to invest my money and make it work for me, I’ve owned my own house twice now, and before that I owned a condo.  I am responsible with my money, live rather modestly, but I’m not married, and I’m 40, so therefore that makes me immature in her book.”  Cas sounded miffed as he talked about his sister.

 

“Well, for what it’s worth, you haven’t struck me as immature.  Both of my brothers are married.  Even Adam.  He married his college sweetheart last year.  I’m the only one not married.”  Dean got lectured from time to time by Sam about how he needed to cut back on his hours and get out more.  He figured Sam just wanted him married too.  At least his mother wasn’t nagging him too much anymore.  She had Sam’s three little ones to satisfy her desire for grandchildren, but Dean knew it was only a matter of time before she started asking him when he was planning to settle down and give her some too.  Adam’s wife was pregnant.  Soon he’d have another niece or nephew to spoil.  He tried not to think about how he was not even close to settling down.  This was the first date he’d had in six months, but it was the first one in two years that he really hoped worked out.

 

“Is that something you’re interested in?”  Cas asked.

 

Dean sipped at the water their server had brought them as he mulled the question over.

 

“I think so, if I found the right person.  Someone that understands that I have to travel for my job and I’m not home all the time, but knows that I’m not the cheating type.  If I spent three weeks away on a case, I’m working, usually 12 to 16 hours a day, until I come home.  Also, I’d need them to be as invested as I am.  I put my all into a relationship, and I expect the same in return.  I’m too old for games and casual sex.”

 

Cas was watching him, a soft smile on his lips that seemed to grow brighter as he listened.

 

“Do you see yourself settling down with a woman?  Or does that not matter to you?”

 

Daen shook his head.  “No, doesn’t matter.  It’s about compatibility and being so crazy, head over heels in love with a person, regardless of whether they’re a man or a woman.  I want someone I can see a future with.  I had a girlfriend, about 15 years ago.  We dated for about a year, she cheated and I didn’t feel we could fix what we had after that.  I was in college, so I concentrated on that, and when I finished, I joined the FBI.  About seven years back I ran into her.  I was working on a case where she had moved to, and our paths crossed pretty much by accident.  We got together for dinner and spent time catching up.”

 

He sighed and shook his head.  “She told me she still loved me, and that ruining what we had was her biggest regret.  She wanted to try again.  I said ok, and we tried dating again.  She’d had a kid with the guy she cheated on with years earlier, or so she said.  Kid looks and acts like me, but has her eyes and hair.  I always doubted her story that he wasn’t mine.  She refused a DNA test though and got mad that I even asked for one.  We lasted about a year the second time around.  Ben wanted us to get married.  He told his friends I was his dad and he begged me to marry his mother so I’d officially be his father, but Lisa couldn’t handle my traveling for work.  She wanted me to get a desk job at a local office.  I love what I do.  I was not built for a desk job long term.  I’d lose my mind.  I told her as much.  She became convinced that with all the traveling I did, I just had to be cheating.  I never, ever cheated on her.  What we had, it wasn’t love.  Not the “deep, til the end of our lives” type.  I loved her but I wasn’t _in_ love with her.  I knew she felt the same and we were trying to force something that was never going to work, and it wasn’t what was best for Ben.  So we sat down, had a talk.  I moved out that weekend.  Ben was the most devastated.  Blamed his mom for ruining their relationship.  I asked if I could keep in touch with him after we split, and she said yes.  He’s 14 now, punk teenager, but we talk all the time via video chat and sometimes in the summer he comes to spend a few weeks if I’m not away on a case.  It’s a weird sort of arrangement, but that’s about the closest I ever got to settling down.  I want something more, something better than what I had with his mom.  She eventually met someone and got married but her husband doesn’t like Ben.  I think their marriage is doomed, but I won’t say that to her face. That’s up to her to learn on her own and deal with.”

 

“You definitely deserve better than that.  I had a girlfriend for about six years but I knew we’d never get married.  She was controlling, tried to tell me how our lives would be and tried to tell me how I should act.  I put up with it while we dated casually, but then we got a place together and she got to the point where she was telling her friends that we were going to get married, where it was going to take place, and when.  I had never once even hinted at marriage.  When she called my mother to start talking wedding plans, I snapped.  My mother called _me_ at _my work_ with a million questions, and I had to explain that no, I had not even proposed and had no intention of ever doing so.  My mom didn’t like her anyway, so she was relieved. 

 

“The first week of summer break, I packed everything I owned or had brought into the relationship, and I moved out.  Amelia was devastated.  I felt bad about hurting her, but not about leaving.  I was up front, told her I didn’t like being told how I should act, how I should dress, what I should teach, or who I should marry.  She’s married now, has a couple kids, and from what I heard, she controls every aspect of his life.  Like, he isn’t “allowed” to have a Facebook unless she has the password and can check his account to make sure he’s staying faithful.  My brother Gabe likes to tease me that I dodged a bullet with her, but seriously?  I didn’t dodge a bullet because it was _never_ going to get that far.  The only thing I question is why I put up with her crap as long as I had.  I’ve never cheated, not even with her, it’s not in my nature to do so, but a partner that can’t trust me, is not someone I want to be with.”  There was a hint of disgust in Cas’ tone as he spoke of his past relationship.  It was worrisome behavior that someone would think they could just control another person like that. 

 

Dean got the impression that perhaps Cas was almost as good at reading people as he was.  He had one eyebrow cocked in Dean’s direction, as though he were reading his mind.  Dean held his gaze though and didn’t back down.

 

“I know you’re concerned because I flirt.  I only flirt with people I’m interested in.  Everyone else I’m just friendly with.”

 

“Good to know you’re interested in me.”  Dean said with a smirk.

 

“I’m _very_ interested.  Won’t even try to deny it.”  Cas replied.

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Lunch was just as pleasant as the rest of the day had been, and so was the drive back home.  Dean was annoyed with himself for not being able to help do much more than unload the trunk, though Cas had a gardening wagon that he used to get their plants into their backyards. 

                                               

“I bought you something today.”  Dean told him as Cas set the last tray of wildflowers down near the back of Dean’s yard.  He turned around to see Dean holding up a flap of canvas with pockets.  It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at.

 

“Oh my God, you didn’t!”  He burst out laughing as he crossed back to the deck where Dean was sitting on his swing. 

 

“Hell yeah, I did.  I hold up to my promises.”

 

Cas took the ridiculously small apron and held it up.  It was roughly 18 inches in length, meant to go around his waist, but not to meet at the back, and it would barely cover his family jewels.  He looked up at Dean, his eyes alight with mischief.

 

“I think I’ll get changed.”

 

Dean’s eyes widened as soon as he realized Cas was serious.

 

“Dude, you don’t have to, it was a gag gift!”

 

Cas had that wicked smirk going again as he stripped his tee shirt off and set it aside.

 

“Maybe I should warn you now that if I’m given a challenge, I take it.  It’s gotten me in trouble a few times in the past.”

 

He tied the apron around his waist and then unbuttoned his shorts.  Dean swallowed hard as they slid down the man’s legs and he stepped out of them.

 

“It’s actually rather comfortable.  But I need gardening tools.”

 

Dean pointed absently at a deck box in the corner.  He couldn’t take his eyes off the man as he went to the box and opened it. 

 

“Fuck…”  He muttered softly to himself.  The view was spectacular.  The fact that Cas wanted to wait before they did anything more, he was pretty sure it was going to be the death of him.

 

“You just going to watch me from the deck as I plant _your_ flowers, or are you going to come help me?  We can sit you down on the ground so you don’t hurt your foot.”  Cas returned with his pockets loaded down with tools.  They were just heavy enough to drag the apron down below his belly button, and Dean found it impossible not to stare.  He was so totally fucked.

 

“Uh, no, I-I’ll come down and help.”

 

“Then come on, gorgeous, let’s get started.”  Cas said as he helped Dean up and onto the scooter.  First they had to get him to the stairs.

 

“What if, um, other neighbors see?”  Dean asked.

 

“You have arborvitae lining the complete other side of your yard, so Rufus can’t see into your yard, and I have a six foot wooden fence between me and the house on the other side.  The only person that can and will see me is you.  Unless you invite people over.”  Cas replied.

 

“My brothers could randomly show up.”  Dean didn’t want either of his brothers, or anyone else for that matter, seeing Cas in all of his naked glory.  Funny how he already felt the tinge of jealousy and they’d only known one another a week, and gone out on one date.  Hell, they hadn’t even kissed yet!

 

“Well, that is on you, not me.  My brothers know I am not modest, therefore they call before showing up, as do my sisters and parents.  To give me a heads up that they’re coming so I can throw clothes on.”

 

Dean figured if they got serious, he’d have to tell his own brothers the same thing.

 

“Yeah, ok.  I’ll tell them to call first.”

 

“Good, let’s go get these plants in the ground, then I’ll take a shower and maybe we can watch a movie.”  Cas said, smiling. 

 

“Sounds good to me.”  Dean agreed.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After planting all of Dean’s flowers and bushes, they went over to Cas’ yard to get his planted as well.  When they parted ways just before evening, Dean went home and took a cold shower.  He needed it.  A quick dinner of pasta and some Italian sausage filled him up, and then he kicked back on the couch to review a file he’d been working on while Dr. Sexy played in the background. 

 

There had been a string of murders across six states, and he was positive they were all related.  It was a gut feeling.  Six different men from six different backgrounds, and none of them even looked alike.  The only thing they all seemed to have in common was that they were all single and in their late 30’s to early 40’s.  They weren’t even murdered all in the same way.  Right now looking for something that would tie them together was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  It was frustrating.

 

Feeling a tension headache coming on, Dean closed his laptop up and tucked it into his briefcase.  It took some maneuvering but he hopped up the stairs and grabbed the pair of crutches that were waiting for him.  The scooter was good for downstairs, but it was awkward to get up to the second floor, so tonight he decided it was ok to be lazy and just use the crutches.  He made his way to the bathroom to take something for his head and then brushed his teeth.  It was still early, so rather than curling up in bed, he grabbed the book he’d been reading and went to sit in the armchair by the window that overlooked the backyard.  Part of the reason he’d bought this house was because the master bedroom looked out over the backyard, and he could see the pond and all of the gardens from his chair.  He could also see into Cas’ yard, if he turned a bit more to the left. 

 

He opened the book to where he’d left off and started to read.  It was a true crime novel and he was soon lost in the story of H.H. Holmes.  Though it was one he knew well, he still enjoyed reading other peoples’ takes on it.  As the story was coming to an end, his phone beeped in his pocket, notifying him that he had a text.  He set the book on the tiny side table next to him and dug his phone out.  A smile rose up on his face as he realized it was a text.  From Cas.

 

**Cas:**   Hey gorgeous, what are you doing up there?  I was moving the extra herbs from my kitchen garden out to the deck after I knocked over the dill and I saw a light on up on your second floor, and you sitting in front of the window.  Not spying, your light just shines down over my tomatoes.

 

Dean chuckled as he tapped out a reply.

 

**Dean:**   Started to get a headache looking over a case, so I came up here to take something for my head and read for a bit.  I just realized that I forgot to replace the solar lights near the back of the yard.

 

**Cas:** How is your head?

 

**Dean:**   Better.

 

**Cas:**   I didn’t get to ask earlier, but how would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow?  I was thinking of making a roast with veggies and rice pilaf. 

 

Dean had been a little disappointed earlier when they’d parted ways without a concrete second date planned, but that was gone now.  He smiled at the prospect of dinner the following evening.

 

**Dean:**   I’d love to.  Want me to bring anything?  I can bring homemade pie and wine.

 

**Cas:**  That sounds wonderful.  I love cherry or even cheesecake, but I’ll eat anything you make.  Wine sounds wonderful as well.

 

**Dean:**   What time should I be there?

 

**Cas:**   How does 7 sound?

 

**Dean:**   Sounds great.  I’ll see you then.

 

**Cas:**   Goodnight, Dean.  Sleep well.

 

**Dean:**   Night, Cas.  You too.

 

He was still smiling as he climbed into bed a few minutes later.  He had a second date with a gorgeous man, and he was close (he could feel it) to finding the connection between the victims.  Things were really beginning to look up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this chapter. Yes, Cas is a HUGE flirt here, but it's an AU, so I can get away with making him like that. Comments and kudos are welcome. Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date at Cas' house goes very well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got my Beta (I LOVE YOU MONIJUNE! I don't know what I'd do without you!!!) to read and edit the entire thing. She gave it her seal of approval, and so I will be posting the rest in intervals, when I have wifi. 
> 
> It turns out I can get wifi if I go sit in my yard. It also turns out that there is an infestation somewhere close (probably my tree) of wood cockroaches and carpenter ants. I have a severe phobia of roaches, and that extends to wood roaches, so I'd rather travel into town and sit somewhere bug free than to sit in my yard and have them landing on me. I am currently posting this from my gym locker room. I hope you like the chapter. I will try to get the next one up soon.

After stumbling out into the yard and nearly taking a header down the deck stairs just to make sure the ducks had food, Dean headed back inside to get some coffee and food into his stomach.  From there he ironed his shirt for work Monday and selected a suit to go with it.  After whipping up a cherry pie and setting it in the window to cool, he decided it was time to start getting ready for his date.  He took a nice, hot bath, leaving his foot dangling over the edge of the tub, while reading another few chapters of his book.  He wanted to be as clean as possible before heading over to Cas’, but it was only five, so he had time. 

Not sure how he should dress, he decided on a nice pair of jeans and a tee shirt.  He seriously doubted Cas would be dressing up in a suit, and he didn’t feel like wearing a suit on his days off from work anyway.  The pie was slipped into a carrier, a gift from his mother a few years back, and after attaching the carrier and a bag with the wine to the front of the scooter, he headed next door.

Thankfully there were only three stairs leading up to Cas’ front porch and after hopping up them, Dean was able to turn around and lift the scooter up and onto the porch.  That already felt like a workout and he hoped he didn’t break a sweat in the still-warm evening air.  He tugged his shirt back down into place and rang the bell.

It was a good 30 seconds before the door opened.  Cas was standing there, a half apron tied around his waist that he was wiping his hands on.  He smiled wide at Dean.

“Sorry, I was finishing up some dishes.  Here, let me help you,”  Cas lifted the scooter over the threshold and, placing a hand under Dean’s elbow, helped him up next.  Once Dean’s knee was resting again on the scooter and he had his balance back, he unclipped the pie and handed the entire carrier over.

“I made cherry.”

Cas took it, resting one hand on top.

“A man that can bake.  Stop it or you might just run away with my heart.”  He winked as he started for the kitchen.  Dean followed.  He felt like a giddy teenager again, and it wasn’t an entirely unpleasant feeling.

“You said a roast, right?  I brought red wine.  I had a few bottles but I sort of don’t touch the stuff unless I have dinner guests.  It’s really good.”  Dean slid the wine out of its bag and set it on the counter.

“Red wine is perfect and will tie in with tonight’s dinner.  Do you like asparagus?”  Cas asked.  He had already set the pie aside and was taking plates from the cabinet.  Dean followed him through another door into a modest sized dining room.  The house was not designed the same as his, which was a more open concept between kitchen and dining room.  Two place settings, the silverware and napkins already in place were waiting, and Cas set the plates down at each one.

“Haven’t had it in a few years, but yeah, I like it,”  Dean replied.  Cas smiled brightly.

“Good.  It’s not my favorite, but you know, phallus shaped vegetables are always interesting to eat on a date.”  He tipped his head back, letting loose with a belly-shaking laugh at Dean’s look of complete shock.

Cas disappeared into the kitchen and one by one, he brought the dishes to the table.  He tutted when Dean tried to help, and directed him to one of the chairs.

“Do you wear aprons for everything?”  Dean asked as he watched Cas untie the one he’d been wearing.  Cas shrugged as he folded it and laid it inside one of the drawers in the built-in china cabinet in the corner.  Dean wasn’t complaining, the apron looked adorable on the handsome professor, but the fact that the man was dressed in a white button down and loose fitting jeans came as a mild surprise.  He’d really expected the man to be naked.  Maybe he was a touch disappointed that he wasn’t.

“Considering I spent much of my time indoors ‘sans clothing’, wearing an apron when I’m cooking becomes a necessity.  You haven’t felt pain until you’ve had hot bacon grease pop out of the pan and hit your balls.  I went to the hospital for that one.” 

Dean winced and shifted in his seat uncomfortably at that image.

“Damn.  Yeah, I see why they’re important.”

Dean had opened the wine while Cas was bringing everything in, and he took a moment to pour them both a glass while Cas cut the roast.  After they both had their plates filled with food, they started eating.

“This is really good.  Is there garlic in the sauce that’s on the asparagus?”  Dean asked.  He’d been cutting his vegetables, too self-conscious was he to just bite into a whole stalk with Cas watching him.

“It is.  My brother Gabe actually went to culinary school before deciding he didn’t want to be a chef after all, and he has passed many recipes on to me.  It’s my own version of Hollandaise sauce, and I like it a lot better.  It’s good on a variety of vegetables, but works for certain dishes too.  It’s delicious over pasta,”  Cas explained.  Dean wasn’t so sure he agreed about the pasta, but it was good on the asparagus.  The rice pilaf was damn good, possibly one of the best he’d ever had, and the roast was seasoned to perfection.  This was an amazing meal, and better than he’d had in some restaurants.  The wine complemented it all perfectly.

“This case you’re working on.  You’re what, a profiler?  Or what else is there to even do in the FBI?  I’m woefully inexperienced with what happens in an organization like that.”

“I’m a behavioral analyst.  I’m part of a Unit-4 team that consists of seven other people, and our unit chief.”  Dean explained.  Cas raised his eyebrows as he listened.

“So what, you investigate bombs?  School shootings?  Political espionage?  Is that even a thing?”  He frowned as he looked off into the distance.  “Or would it just be considered government espionage?”

“Just government espionage, and no, I’m part of the BAU which is hard enough to get into.  We track killers for the most part.”

Cas’ smirk faded and his eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

Dean gave a short nod. 

“Seriously.”

“That would scare me too much.  I couldn’t do something like that.  What drove you to want to be in that department?  I thought you were handling like, child porn on the internet, or movie pirating,”  Cas confessed.

“My department steps in more for say, sex trafficking rings, child porn rings, interstate murders, that kind of thing.  My team works on murders for the most part.”  Dean ate another piece of the roast, waiting to see how Cas would react.

“Well.  Not what I expected.  Doesn’t that kind of work give you nightmares?”  Cas asked.

“More than I’d ever admit to.”  Dean picked up his wine and took a sip.  His work was something that not everyone was alright with.

“Well, you’re helping people, doing something good to keep everyone safe.  I respect that.  It’s not something I would have the stomach for, but I admire you for what you do.  I can’t imagine anyone could do what you do and not come out with some kind of trauma.”  Cas touched his hand lightly for a moment before reaching for his own glass of wine.

“My mom says the same thing.  She doesn’t understand how I can do what I do and keep my sanity.  Sometimes I wonder it myself.”  Dean sighed heavily.  “But I know I’m making a difference, and that helps me sleep a little better at night.”

They finished their meal, and Dean insisted on helping clear the table.  He got the dishwasher loaded while Cas took the pie and new plates into the dining room.  By the time he returned to the dining room, Cas had slices of pie topped with vanilla ice cream sitting at their places, and he’d refilled their wine glasses.  He sat back down, smiling at the delighted look on Cas’ face.

“You’re a gorgeous, real life super hero that loves animals, children, and you can bake.  You’re perfect.” 

Dean chuckled.  Perfect was the last thing he’d call himself.

“I’m far from perfect; you just haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Well, do you sing off key?”  Cas asked. 

“No, actually I’m a pretty good singer.  I can play guitar too,”  Dean replied, grinning at the look of disbelief on the other man’s face.

“Of course you can.  Do you have erectile dysfunction?”

Dean laughed as he shook his head.  “Nope.”

“Small cock.”

Dean laughed harder.  “I’ll let you be the judge of that, but to give you a hint, the answer is no.”

Cas frowned.  “You snore.”

“Maybe?  I don’t know.  I didn’t when I was a kid.”

“I rest my case.  You’re perfect.  Now I’m feeling self-conscious.”  Cas stuck his lower lip out in a pout.  He looked way too adorable for an adult man.

“I’m as flawed as anyone else.  There’s no such thing as perfect.  I am, however, adorable.”  Dean dug into his pie, making sure to snag a bit of the rapidly melting ice cream.  He had to admit, this might be one of the best pies he’d ever made.

“Well, any which way you look at it, I consider myself lucky.  Are you…seeing anyone else?”  Cas failed at sounding casual as he took another sip of his wine.

“No, Cas, I’m not.  I only date one person at a time.  I’ve been single for a while, mostly because of work.”  Dean took another sip from his own glass of wine.  It wasn’t too bad with the cherry pie and ice cream either.  He’d picked a good one.

“Oh, that’s good to hear.  Neither am I.”  Cas smiled softly.  “I do have a question though.”

“Go ahead and ask,”  Dean urged.

“Once you’re back in the field, how often do you travel for work?” 

“That depends on the case.  We work nonstop until the case is solved.  Longest I’ve been away from home is two months.  That doesn’t mean the case was solved, it just means we hit a dead end and couldn’t do anything until we had more evidence.  The work still continues, even when we’re back here,”  Dean replied.

“Two months,”  Cas echoed.

“It’s not radio silence.  I can call, text and Skype.  I still talk to my family.  I’m just not permitted to talk about whatever case I’m working on.”  Dean hoped that wasn’t a deal breaker.  Cas leaned his elbow on the table and plopped his chin down in the palm of his hand.

“So how much does it drive you nuts not having sex for that long of a period?”

Dean chuckled as he pushed his empty plate away.

“It doesn’t.  Generally I’m so focused on work that sex is the last thing on my mind.  And for the record, I’m currently going on six months without sex and I think I’m doing just fine.”

“Yes, well, It’s been about that long for me as well.  I can take care of my own needs, if the urge becomes too disrupting.  I was just wondering how you handle it,”  Cas said.

“If you’re worried that I sleep with my co-workers, you don’t have to.  We’re like family.  And I have to work with these people every day.  If we can’t trust one another and have each other’s back, it puts us at risk.  Besides, everyone’s married or in long-term relationships, and that’s aside from the fact that I am not even attracted to anyone on the team like that.”  Dean grimaced.  The very thought of seeing Ed or Bobby naked made him want to hurl.

“There you go, further solidifying my belief that you’re perfect.”  Cas clicked his tongue as he shook his head. “I really don’t know that I can measure up.”

Dean laughed.  Cas was worried for nothing.  He decided to be bold and reach over to take the other man’s hand.  It encouraged him when Cas didn’t pull away.  He simply picked his head up from his other hand to watch him with interest.

“I like you, Cas.  You’re a refreshing change from the people I usually date, which might be the key to why it never worked out with them.  Your sense of humor, the way you flirt, you leave me feeling lighter and happier than I have in a long time.  I’d like to take you to dinner, maybe Wednesday, if you’re available.  I have several meetings tomorrow, and Tuesday I have interviews I need to do.  I won’t be home until kind of late, and that’s if things go well.  But Wednesday, barring any changes in the case, I should be home by five, and I’d like to take you out to dinner.”

“I’d like that.  Help me clean up?  We can go relax in the living room.”  Cas squeezed his hand and smiled as he got to his feet.

Dean stood up too, and with some careful finagling, he helped get the table cleared.  The dishwasher was still going, so he started washing everything by hand while Cas put the pie away and wiped down the dining room table. 

Cas left to go to the living room first and as Dean rolled into the room a minute later, he heard music playing softly on the stereo system in the corner. 

“Please, have a seat.”  Cas motioned towards the couch and Dean rolled over to it and sat down.  It was cushy and much more comfortable than his own. 

Cas joined him, sitting close enough that Dean could feel his body heat.  The house was pleasantly cool though, so it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“So tell me more about  _ you _ .  What made you switch from medicine to teaching?  What do you like best about it?”  Dean asked.  He figured if they were going to date with any kind of regularity, it was best to get to know the man better.  He’d already run a background check, mostly out of habit, but that didn’t tell him Cas’ likes and dislikes, or anything about his personality quirks.

They talked then about work, about Dean’s plans once he was fully mobile on two feet again, about Cas’ plans to paint the living room, and from there the conversation turned to music, movies, what they liked to do for fun, and whatever else came to mind.  Sitting and talking so freely was nice, and Dean didn’t feel an ounce of discomfort in Cas’ presence.  The man was a flirt, but he wasn’t a tease.  Dean knew that anything Cas happened to hint at, he would be more than willing to follow through on anything flirtatious or sexual that passed his lips.  He wasn’t worried at all that Cas would be like others he had dated.  And he didn’t intend to tease Cas either, at least, not with anything he couldn’t follow through on.

Dean liked the way Cas relaxed with him, leaning into him as he talked about what it was like growing up with his siblings and with parents that were basically hippies.  The urge to touch was strong, but Dean was a gentleman, and he settled for just brushing his pinky finger across the back of Cas’ hand where it rested in the minimal space between them.  He received an absolutely dazzling smile in return before Cas scooted closer.

“Are you dying to touch me, Dean Winchester?”  he teased.  Dean grinned.

“Maybe, but I was raised to be a gentleman and keep my hands to myself, unless invited.”

Cas lifted Dean’s hand as he turned to face him, bringing it to rest on his hip.

“See?  Perfect.  Consider this your invitation.  Now, are you going to just keep sitting there staring at my lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss me or are you going to actually do it?”

The laughter bubbled up from Dean’s chest as he tightened his grip on Cas’ hip, tugging lightly until he’d moved close enough that now there was no space at all between them.  No words were needed, not with blue eyes flickering to his lips.  Just to tease, he licked them, just to see Cas’ eyes darken before he captured his mouth in a kiss. 

A soft sigh passed Cas’ lips as he pressed in closer, kissing him more firmly.  A slight tilt of his head brought their mouths together in a better fit, and Cas opened up to him, welcoming Dean’s tongue as it slid past his lips to graze over his own.  Dean felt the hands that slid up and over his chest, coming around his neck and drawing him impossibly close.  Bringing up his other hand, he gripped Cas’ other hip tight.  They spent several long minutes exploring one another’s mouths before Cas pulled back slightly and smiled.

“You’re even a good kisser.”

“So are you.”  Dean was so tempted to just close the gap and kiss him again, but Cas seemed busy studying his face.

“I love your freckles.  They add to your charm.  You’re ridiculously attractive.  I noticed you, when I first moved in, but I saw you standing in your yard with a man and a woman, and I didn’t know if you were related to them or possibly married to one of them.  Then later I met Lisa, and she said you were single.  I saw you here and there, but only in passing, until last week.”  When he blushed, Dean found himself intrigued as to why.

“Why do I feel like there’s something more that you’re not saying?”

Cas blushed harder but a wide smile graced his lips.

“I wanted to say something the first time I saw you.  You were bundled up in a black wool coat, trying to unlock your front door, but it was so cold out and I was trying to get into my own house.  When I turned to say something, you were already in your house, and I missed my opportunity.  I wanted to approach you, to ask you about your gardens and maybe just strike up a conversation.  You sort of made it easy by dropping your mug and stepping on it.  Honestly though, I didn’t think it would be while I was gardening naked that I’d finally catch your eye.  Should have figured though.”

“No, sweetheart, you caught my eye right after you moved in, but stopping to have a conversation when I was heading to work was not an option, and I only saw you briefly once or twice until that day.  But I don’t regret it, even if I needed surgery for my own stupidity.  I started physical therapy but it’s going to get more intense.  They don’t want the tendon to shorten or I’ll have more issues, so while I’m not bearing weight on it right now, I still have to stretch it.  That’s beside the point though.  I was saying that while I wanted to introduce myself, I’d heard you were teaching religious studies, and that kind of turned me off, so I figured we would eventually meet because we’re neighbors, but even though I thought you were the hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on, I didn’t expect to actually  _ like _ you.”

Cas laughed in surprise at his confession.

“You were turned off because of what I teach?”

Dean blushed, nodding reluctantly.  “I don’t do well around deeply religious people, and I figured anyone that taught it was probably a Bible thumper.”

“Oh, honey, no.” Cas was laughing softly as he brought one hand up to cup Dean’s cheek.  “I am not religious.  I studied religion in college because it fascinated me all of the various ones that popped up over time, and all of the similarities that they all share.  Not because I believe in one true God and go to church every Sunday.  I identify as more…agnostic.  I believe there’s something up there, I just don’t believe in the Christian ideal of God.”

“Good to know.  I believe in God, but I haven’t been to church since I was a teenager and told my mom I didn’t believe the crap spewing out of the pastor’s mouth when he was up on the pulpit.  Especially when I knew he had an unhealthy interest in little girls.  I think that might have been the start of my interest in law enforcement.  Seeing the things that I do though, it’s hard to have faith in a God that would let those kinds of things happen.”  Dean said.  Cas’ expression sobered, becoming almost haunted and he nodded.

“I would have a difficult time believing in a God that would let little children be raped and murdered.”

“So, we’ve established that we’re both idiots.  It’s a good thing we’ve moved past that and got to know one another.  I really like you, Cas.”  This time Dean did steal another kiss.  Cas melted into it again, sighing happily.

“I don’t think I mind being an idiot with you.”  Cas was smiling as he pulled back.

Dean chuckled softly.  “Me either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I do see the comments, but due to limited wifi I can't answer all of them like I want to. I do love seeing how much you like something I have written though.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, enjoy!

Monday came too quickly, and Dean was exhausted and in pain by the time he got home.  His mood was pretty shitty, until he saw the bag hanging on his door knob.  The agent in him was momentarily alarmed as he climbed the steps and approached, but he could smell the food inside it, and there was a note attached to the front.  He plucked it off and flipped it open.

_ Dean, _

_ I figured you’d be tired after all of your meetings today, and I made too much for dinner, so I brought over half.  You weren’t home yet, and you have ants, so I put it into sealed containers and am hanging it on your door.  I hope you like what I made.  Text me later if you like. _

_ Cas _

Dean smiled as he peeked into the bag. Smelled like Asian food of some kind.  He lifted it off the doorknob as he pulled his key out and unlocked the door. Once inside, he locked the door and limped his way into the kitchen.  He’d had a doctor’s appointment that morning to remove the stitches and had managed to hobble around with the help of an arch support and gym shoes, but his foot ached something horrible and he’d skipped lunch, so the fact that there was dinner already waiting vastly improved his mood.  He grabbed a fork and knife, and just in case, chopsticks, and sat down to eat. 

The food smelled even more wonderful once he popped the lids off, and his stomach rumbled almost painfully in anticipation.  It was lo mein noodles mixed with a ton of vegetables, and another container of white rice with leeks and water chestnuts.  It was fantastic and he devoured every bit.  He chased it with some ibuprofen and a large glass of water.  Once the pain started to ease up, he washed the containers and put them in the dish rack to dry.  It was almost nine and he was tired, but not tired enough to go to bed yet.  He headed upstairs to change into shorts and a tee shirt, sighing again with relief once the gym shoes and the brace came off. 

After going through his bedtime routine, Dean laid back in bed and turned the TV on.  He flipped through the stations, eventually settling on a rerun of Buck Rogers, mostly because he hadn’t seen it in 20 years.  With it acting more as background noise, he pulled his phone out.

**Dean:**  Thank you for dinner, it was fabulous.  You’re an amazing cook.

It was a few minutes before he got a response.

**Cas:**  I’m glad you liked it.  I had a taste for it, haven’t had it in a while.  When you were still not home by seven I figured you might come home hungry.  If not, you had lunch for tomorrow.

**Dean:**  I inhaled all of it. I forgot to eat lunch.  It was a rough day that started off with an appointment to get the stitches out, and then 30 minutes of PT followed by hours and hours of meetings at work.  I’m drained.  I will get the scooter back to you by this weekend.  Thank you again for letting me use it.

**Cas:**  It’s no problem at all.  I’m glad it helped.  How is your foot feeling?  You might want to soak it.  It can help.

**Dean:**  It’s killing me, but I took something for the pain after dinner.  It’s hurting less than it was.  I went from not walking on it at all to wearing gym shoes all day, and it was agonizing.  But they gave me a brace for my arch, to keep it stretched.  I might have to wear that permanently.  I’m also thinking I’ll need inserts for my work shoes now. 

**Cas:**  I’m sorry you have to go through all that. 

**Dean:**  It’s fine.  I’ve had worse injuries and much longer recoveries.  I just want to get back out into the field.  I think I’m driving everyone nuts.  A team was sent to Utah on the case I’ve been working on, and I had to stay here.  Boss said I can’t go till I pass my physical, and that’s scheduled for two weeks from today. 

**Cas:** This is the doctor in me speaking, but you don’t want to rush your recovery.  If you do, you could end up causing more damage.  Permanent damage that will make it next to impossible to get back into the field.  So go easy.  I’ll help as much as I can.  As cute as you look in your flip flops, I don’t want to see you going back in for surgery again.  I was hoping you might like hiking or bike riding once the weather warms up more.

Dean smiled.  It was a little exciting that Cas liked him this much and wanted to spend time with him.

**Dean:**  Ok, I’ll keep that in mind, and I’ll take it easy.  I definitely don’t want another surgery.  Hiking and bike riding sound great.  I know some great trails, up north, in the mountains.  I have vacation time coming in June.  I was planning on a road trip, but driving north into the mountains and going hiking sounds like fun.

**Cas:**  That sounds great actually.  I’m off this summer and was looking for something fun to go and do. You just tell me when, and I’ll be ready to go.

**Cas:**  What are you doing right now?  I just finished grading papers.  Read a couple of really good ones.  One in particular was on anarchy and its effect on government and various religions.  I very much enjoyed that one.

**Dean:**  That sounds interesting, and I wouldn’t mind reading that one.  I’m watching an old episode of Buck Rogers, if you can believe that, and talking to you.  I’m too tired to do much of anything, but not so tired that I’m ready to go to sleep.

**Cas:**  Buck Rogers?  Seriously?  I’m looking for that right now.  I haven’t seen that since I was a little kid.  Used to watch it with my brothers, then we’d reenact scenes.  It was a favorite of ours.  Found it.

**Dean:**  I used to watch it with my dad.  My brother hated it, but I loved it. 

**Cas:**  If you want me to let you go so you can get rest, just let me know.

**Dean:**  No, I’m not ready to go to bed yet.  Tell me more about that anarchy paper.

The next hour and a half was spent discussing some of the papers Cas had graded, and it almost felt to Dean like he was back in college.  They had actually decided to stop texting and just talk on the phone.  He liked talking to Cas, in person, over the phone, it didn’t matter.  When yawning started to take over more than talking, he reluctantly had to hang up.  Still, it was a very pleasant end to a stressful day, and sleep came easily. 

“You’re looking chipper.” 

Dean looked up from his computer to see Cassie leaning against his desk, her arms crossed as she looked at him.

“Yeah?  I should be.  Passed my physical today.  I’m cleared to go back into the field.”

“Well duh, we knew that was going to happen.  You’ve been in a pretty good mood for a few weeks now.”  She lifted off his desk and pulled a chair over from a nearby desk.  “What’s going on with you?  We haven’t caught up in a while.”

“Work as usual, but that’s for all of us.  Been sleeping a little better too.  And…”  A small smile flitted across his lips.

“You’re seeing someone!”  She realized, nearly squealing in excitement.

He chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah, I am.”

“What happened now?”  Ed was passing by, but Cassie’s excited squeals caught his attention.

“Dean’s seeing someone!”  She exclaimed.

“Oh, ho, ho,  _ really _ ?”  Ed grinned and now  _ he _ was leaning against the desk.  Damn his team could be nosey.  They really were family. 

“What’s going on over here?”  Victor stopped on his way to his own desk to ask.

“Dean’s seeing someone.  We’re trying to get details,”  Cassie explained.

“Well spill, man, who’s the lucky lady?  Or is it a lucky man?”

Dean rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed.  It just made everyone laugh.

“His name is Cas, and he’s a professor over at VSU.  He moved in next door to me and we got to talking after I hurt my foot, and we’ve been dating ever since.”

“Oh, Cas the professor.  Sounds sexy,”  Cassie teased.

“He is.  Smart, sexy, we just get along really well,”  Dean said.

“What does he look like?”  Charlie came and sat down next to Cassie in another stolen chair.  Yeah, they were like family.  He pulled his phone out and went into the picture gallery.  They’d gone for a hike a few days earlier and he had snapped a handful of pictures of his boyfriend.  It still gave him a thrill to even say that in his head.  He pulled up one of Cas standing with his hands on his hips and a huge smile on his face.  He loved that particular picture, even if there was a pair of dark sunglasses obscuring those incredible blue eyes.

“Holy shit, he’s hot!”  Cassie exclaimed, snatching his phone out of his hands.

“Wow.”  Charlie leaned over her shoulder to look too.  Even Victor and Ed had crowded in to get a look.

“Oh, look at his  _ eyes _ !”  Cassie gasped as she slid to another picture, this one a close up of Cas standing at an overview at the top of the mountain.  He’d slid the glasses off at Dean’s request, and smiled wide.  It was another favorite.

“Yeah, they’re blue.  Like really blue.  He’s gorgeous.”  Dean plucked his phone out of Cassie’s hand and looked at the picture again. 

“I bet he’s a beast in bed,”  Charlie teased as she shoved him lightly.

“I wouldn’t know.  We’ve only been dating a few weeks, and we’re taking things slow.  Plus my work schedule hasn’t exactly been conducive to a healthy sex life, and he understands that.  Barring any travel, we have plans to spend the weekend together.  I’m  _ really _ looking forward to that.”  Dean tucked his phone back in his pocket.  Yeah, he was most  _ definitely _ looking forward to Friday night.

“Good for you.  I’m happy for you.”  Victor slapped him on the back before walking away. 

“You gonna bring him to the company picnic next month?”  Ed asked.

“Hopefully.  I’d like to.”  Dean replied.  He’d forgotten about that.  It really wasn’t FBI sanctioned.  It was more of a barbecue at Bobby’s house, and everyone came with their families.  It had been years since he’d brought anyone to one of their get togethers.  He was actually looking forward to having someone as wonderful as Cas to bring.

“Winchester!  Robinson!  Up here, now!”  Bobby was standing on the landing outside his office.  The look on his face told them something was up. 

“Yeah, ok.”  Dean got to his feet at the same time Cassie did. 

“Think we got another vic?” she asked.  His expression was grim as they started up the stairs.

“I’m betting on it.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

**Dean:**  Getting on a plane.  I’ll be back hopefully in 48 hours. 

**Cas:**  Please be careful, sweetheart. 

**Dean:**  Like I’d let anything happen.  I have a hot date this weekend.

**Cas:**  You jest, but I worry about you.  Please come back in one piece.

**Dean:**  I plan on it. Until further notice, we’re still on for this weekend.  I made dinner reservations.

**Cas:**  I got my test results back.  I was planning to tell you tonight.

**Dean:**  And?

**Cas:** I’m clean, just like I knew I was, but it felt good to get a completely negative panel.  It had been a while since I’d gotten tested.  I’ve always been careful, but it still makes me nervous to wait for the results.

**Dean:**  Same.  I’ll see you Friday.

**Cas:**  Damn right you will.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“What on earth has you on edge today?  You’re so distracted.” 

Meg slipped into the seat across from Cas and set a cup of coffee in front of him.  He didn’t even notice, until she spoke.

“What did you say?” he asked, clearly distracted.  His phone was in his hands, and he still hadn’t taken his eyes off the screen.

“I asked-”  She grabbed his phone out of his hands.

“Hey!”  He reached for it but she held it out of his grasp.

“What on earth has you so damn distracted?  This isn’t like you.” 

He snagged the phone back and glared at her before he noticed the hot cup of joe sitting in front of him.

“Oh, coffee, thank you.”  He took a sip and glanced again at his phone.  “I’m worried about my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend.  Since when did you get a boyfriend?  And what’s to worry about?”  She picked her own cup up to take a sip.  This was the first she’d heard about a boyfriend.

“We’ve been dating almost a month now.  He’s in the FBI.” 

“FBI.  He’s not bullshitting you, is he?  Is he really FBI?”  she asked.  “People fake that kind of thing all the time.” 

“He’s really FBI.  In the BAU, and he just flew out to Colorado yesterday.  He called me last night but I haven’t heard from him at all today.  I don’t want to seem clingy, but I worry.”  There were still no new texts from Dean.  Was this what it was like to be married to an FBI agent?  How did spouses do this?

“What is that?  Like Criminal Minds?”  she asked.

“Same department, yes. Behavioral Analysis Unit.  He tracks killers for the most part.”  He checked the phone again, letting out a small cry of triumph when he saw a message from Dean.

“Wow, I didn’t know that department actually existed.  Then again, I’ve never thought much about the FBI,” she said.

“He says he’s heading back to his hotel.  They spent most of last night and today investigating the crime scene.  He’s catching dinner now, and then going to do a second interview with witnesses.  He says he’ll call me tonight when he’s back at the hotel.”  He smiled, finding relief in the fact that Dean was safe.  Logically he knew Dean was ok, but he worried.

“Awful concerned for barely knowing the guy,”  Meg noted.

“I care.  Is that so bad?  He’s the first person I’ve really felt anything for in years.  He’s amazing.”  He had no problems with admitting it to her, or to anyone that asked.

“He’s that fantastic, huh?  And where did you meet someone so fantastic?  I want one,” she complained. He grinned around another sip of his coffee.

“I moved in next door to him, if you can believe it.  He’s my next door neighbor.”

“Son of a bitch!  He’s that hot neighbor you told me you kept seeing, but were too chicken to go talk to!”  She realized.  “You finally got some balls!”

He broke out laughing at the irony of her words.

“Yes, he hurt himself, stepped on a broken piece of his coffee cup while I was outside in my garden.  He’d come outside to look at his own and it cut his foot so bad he needed surgery.  You know I was in medical school, so I jumped the fence and…well, I took care of his foot, got the bleeding to stop and then I drove him to the hospital.  We talked all week after that, and the following weekend we had our first real date.  Look, he’s really gorgeous.”

He dug his phone back out and pulled up his lock screen.  With a boyfriend as hot as Dean, he wanted to see him as often as possible, so he’d made the picture he’d taken on a recent hike his lock screen.  A picture of them together that a nice young lady who had been running the trail behind them was kind enough to take.  He pulled the actual picture up so she could see it without all of his icons and handed his phone over.

“Wow.  He’s…wow.”

“I think he’s gorgeous,” he said defensively.  Dean was gorgeous!

“I’m not saying he’s not.  I just didn’t know there were men this fine in the FBI.  Not even the cops around here are attractive.”  She handed his phone back and smirked at him.  He laughed, looking one last time at the picture before putting his phone to sleep and tucking it back in his pocket.

“Well, now you know there are.  And I have the handsomest one of all.”

“Lucky bastard.”  She checked her watch and sighed.  “Damn it, I have to get back to my office.  My hours start in 10 minutes. Call me later?  I want details about Officer Sexy.” 

He huffed in amusement.  “That would be Agent Sexy.  I have to get going too, class in 10.”

They both stood up, finishing off the last of their coffee before parting ways.  Tonight he looked forward to talking to Dean.  He just had to get through the rest of the day.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Well that was pointless.  No one noticed anything.  Any other ideas?”  Cassie shrugged her jacket off and laid it over the back of the chair closest to her.  Dean was already sitting at the table, the files for their current case spread out on the table in front of him.  Something was niggling at the back of his mind about this murder, and it was really starting to bug him that he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Let’s go back to the beginning.  Christopher Garrett, age 36, white, single, personal trainer at World’s Best Gym in Chicago, Illinois.  Originally from Schaumburg, Illinois.  Had a record as a kid, but he’s been clean since a misdemeanor shoplifting charge when he was 15.  Handful of parking tickets, but otherwise clean.  Straight, as far as anyone knows.  Stabbed, found face down in his living room apartment.  Found by his girlfriend Valerie Scapelli on July 8 th , 2016.

“Second victim, Douglas White.  Age 38, white, single, stock broker turned financial advisor.  Had a squeaky clean record.  From Cincinnati, Ohio, was living in Akron when he disappeared.  Body found strangled in his car in Akron on September 12 th , 2016.”

“Ok, any similarities between the two?”  Cassie had her notepad out and was making fresh notes.  It helped her sometimes when nothing else did.  Dean used the same method.

“Well, Christopher was tall, 6-f00t-3, light blonde hair, according to his driver’s license and the photos provided of him before he shaved it all off.  Douglas has curly, dark brown hair.  Chris had green eyes, Doug has brown.  Doug was slightly overweight, stood 5-foot-5, was born with a cleft palate.”  He flipped through each victim’s file, reading the details off to her.  She frowned as she wrote them down.

“Ok, what about schools?”  She asked.

“Victim one went to Northern Illinois University but dropped out his third year, victim two graduated from Ohio State,” he replied.

“They had to have crossed paths somehow.  We’re missing something.”  She was as frustrated as him.  With every new victim it felt like time was running out, though for what neither of them was sure.

“Victim number three was Alexander McKee.  White, divorced twice, 39, a doctor in Chicago, Illinois, from Scottsdale, Arizona.  A couple of misdemeanors, a DUI seven years ago, another DUI five years ago, then he did rehab, nothing since.  Body found in his bedroom in his house in Chicago, Illinois, strangled, stabbed, and beaten on November 1 st , 2016,”  Dean read out.

“Ok.  And school?”  They had both decided they’d try first to find some kind of connection between the victims going as far back as college.  If that proved impossible, they’d go back further.

“Went to Northwestern Illinois University in Chicago.”

She was making columns, writing each bit of information down in a different column.  Still nothing seemed to match.  Another team was sifting through things like travel records, spending patterns, and internet histories.  When she looked up, Dean was pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Headache starting?”  she asked.  He grunted in response.

“Well, what about the fourth?”

He dropped his hand and looked through the files until he found the right one.

“Bernard Cronin, age 36, single, white, openly gay, owned a bicycle store in Salem, Oregon.  Went missing on December 15 th , 2016.  Body found decapitated in Blue Island, Illinois, behind a Sav-A-Lot, cause of death, drowning.  It was deemed that he was drowned and decapitated in his apartment over his shop on January 4 th , 2017.  He holds a degree from an online school, American Intercontinental University.”

Cassie scanned the lists she was making.  Nothing stuck out yet.

“Next.”

“Ok, victim number five was Trenton Moore, age 37, single, white, lawyer in Tacoma, Washington.  Found beaten in his house on February 1 st ,  2017, but it’s believed he died on January 28 th . Was a tax lawyer with the firm Bennett, Kramer, Lester, and Spiro.  Attended Stanford and University of California.”

“Shit.  This is beyond frustrating,”  she said through gritted teeth as she added them to her list.  This wasn’t the first one she had made; she just tackled each one from a different angle.  This one was focusing on their education and careers.  It helped her pick out clues she might have missed.

“Victim number six is Darren Polson, age 39, divorced, white, doctor-” Dean paused to grab one of the other folders.

“That’s two doctors?”  Cassie had stopped as well.  “No, wait, three.  This latest victim is a doctor too.”

“We’re not to him yet.  Back up for a minute.  Third victim, Alexander McKee, was a doctor where again?”  he asked.

She scanned her list.  “John Hopkins.”

“And Polson worked…”  He scanned the file.  “He worked at a clinic out of West Suburban, in Oak Park, Illinois.”

“Where did he go to school?”  She asked.

“Ah ha!”  Dean cried.  He jabbed his finger at a line in the file.  “He went to Northwestern University!”

Cassie looked up, feeling the same excitement her partner was feeling.

“Check out that last doctor.  Where’d he go to school?”

Dean grabbed the file for their latest victim and did a quick scan.  His smile fell away.

“He attended Harvard.”

“Shit!” she cried, her frustration coming back full force.

“Victim number six, Jeffrey Dallas of Idaho Falls, Idaho, went to culinary school in New York and Jarek Zelinski of Eagle Rock California, victim number seven did a few semesters at a community college before dropping out.  He was giving surfing lessons.”  He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.  “But we have two that went to the same university.  It’s better than we had yesterday.”

“I’ll call Charlie, get her to cross reference them and see if there’s any chance they might have known each other.”  She already had her phone out and was on the phone to Charlie.  Dean took a moment to check in with Cas, let him know he was alive and well.  The man had been worrying about him a lot, and he wanted to ease his mind. 

**Dean:**  Hey, babe, letting you know I’m at my hotel.  I’ve actually been here a while.  Going over the case with a fine tooth comb and actually might have a lead.  God I hope it’s a lead and not just a coincidence.  It’s been a long day.  Waiting for Cassie to get off the phone with Charlie so I know whether we’re barking up the wrong tree or not.  How was your day?

Cas responded almost immediately, and Dean got the feeling he was probably sitting with his phone in his hand.

**Cas:**  I’m glad you’re back at the hotel.  I really hope your lead pans out for you.  My day was long.  I didn’t feel like giving lectures today but alas, that’s what I was hired to do.  Talked way too much about Buddha and Hari Krishna today.  Tests from last week are graded, and I am sitting in bed watching Casablanca.

**Dean:**  Are you naked?

**Cas:**  I think you know the answer to that.

Dean sucked his lower lip into his mouth and glanced over at Cassie.  She was still talking to Charlie.  He turned his attention back to his phone.

**Dean:**  Damn I’d like to be there to see that right now. 

**Cas:**  Oh you would, would you?  I thought that was on the table for Friday?  It’s Tuesday.      

**Dean:**  God I wish it was Friday.

**Cas:**  Well, it’s only three days away, but shouldn’t you be concentrating on your case?  How are you concentrating when you’re picturing me naked?

**Dean:**  I wasn’t, until I realized you’d be kicked back in bed naked.  Now it’s all I can think about. 

“Dean!  We got something!”  Cassie gave him a thumbs up.  All thoughts of his boyfriend naked flew out the window.  He set his phone aside.

“What is it?”

“Alexander McKee and Darren Polson graduated from the same class and were in residency  _ together _ .  They definitely knew each other,” she replied.  He grinned.   _ Finally _ , they had a break.

“About damn time!”

She was still on the phone with Charlie and resumed her conversation with the technical genius of their team.  Dean turned his attention back to his phone.

**Dean:**  We finally have a lead.  Two of the victims went to medical school together, graduated from the same class. 

**Cas:**  How many victims do you have now?

**Dean:**  8 so far.

**Cas:**  And you can only find a connection between 2?  Seems like if this was a serial killer with a plan, there would be a connection between all of the victims, not just 2 of them.

**Dean:**  Sometimes they don’t have a plan.  Before this, the only clue we had was that all of the men were in their late 30’s and single. 

**Cas:**  I don’t understand how you even connected all of them if they’re all in different states.  You amaze me.  You’re certain that the same person killed them all?

**Dean:** Yes.  At each crime scene a man fitting a specific description was seen within 48 hours of the last time the victim was seen alive.  And he has a signature that tells us it’s the same guy.  Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what that is.

**Cas:**  I wondered how that worked.  Do you still think the killer is in Utah?

**Dean:**  No.  He’s long gone.  I just wish we had an idea of where he was going next.

**Cas:**  I hope your lead gives you something you can dig into, so you can catch this guy.  It’s horrible what he has done to these people.  In the meantime, I’ll be here, naked, thinking of you.

Dean grinned at the emojis his boyfriend was using.  Mostly hearts and a smiley face blowing kisses. 

**Dean:**  It’s not fair to leave me sitting across from my partner with a hard on.

**Cas:**  Well, I’m not the one that started imagining their boyfriend in all his naked glory, now am I?  No, I’m the one that just switched to an episode of ER.  I know what procedure this intern is performing.  I performed it a half dozen times myself. 

**Dean:**  You’re killing me here, babe.  I want this case over, so I can come home.  Trust me when I say I don’t just want to look at you naked.

**Cas:**  I’m sure.  So get back to work on that case so you can get back here.  In the meantime I’ll just enjoy lounging around my house naked. 

**Dean:**  I’m beginning to think that you might just be the death of me.

**Cas:**  My intentions are to bring certain parts of your anatomy to life, not to kill you.  I’d rather like to enjoy my time with you for a long time to come. 

Dean was still grinning a minute later when Cassie nudged his arm.

“What are you smiling like that for?”

“Sorry, was talking to Cas.  He’s awesome.”

She snickered and shook her head.

“I’m glad someone has you smiling like that.”  She motioned towards the files.  “Charlie’s going to look into their background more and get back to us in the morning.”

“I’m hungry.  Are you hungry?”  He asked.

“I’m starving.  Aside from those muffins we had this morning, I haven’t eaten.  Order something.”  She stifled a yawn and got up to grab a bottle of water from the mini fridge.  This motel actually had a few amenities, like a coffee pot and a mini fridge. 

“There’s a little Italian place across the street, I’ll just run over there.  It’ll probably be faster than ordering.” He got up and slipped his jacket back on.

“Get me chicken parmesan.  And garlic bread,” she said as he shuffled towards the door.

“I’ll be back in 30.  We’ll pick up where we left off when I get back.”

She nodded, waiting until he’d left to let out a loud groan.  They were going to be at this for hours.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with this story! I hope you like this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I read through the comments on the last chapter, and I have to ask, did anyone notice the clues I dropped? Anyone at all? They're there. Beyond that, I'm zipping my lips. I actually, by some miracle got wifi in my house, probably because after weeks of nonstop rain, we got clear skies. It's clouding over again, so I figured that while I had a second, I would put the next chapter up. If I felt like contending with the mosquitoes outside, I'd sit on my porch and do it, but I don't, so I'm in my house. Mosquitoes here were just identified as carrying West Nile. I'll stay safe in my house, thank you!
> 
> I hope you're still enjoying the story.

“He’s coming home today?”  Meg asked.

“Yes.  I can’t wait.  We’re going out to dinner tonight, and then I’m going to take him home with me.  Or go to his house.  Doesn’t really matter as long as there is a bed involved.”  All day there had been a low thrum of excitement coursing through him and just thinking about Dean made it ramp up until it felt like his heart might beat out of his chest.  He was so excited for tonight.

Meg laughed as she spooned more ice cream into her mouth.

“Planning to rock his world, are you?”

“Absolutely.  I talked to him last night and he told me he’s going to come stay at my house for the weekend.  That way, if he does get called back to the case, he’s not abandoning me at his house.  He just has to make sure the ducks and fish in the pond are fed.  I’ve been doing that while he’s away, rather than Lisa across the street.  He says she wasn’t being regular about it, so I volunteered.”  He picked up his sandwich and took a bite.  Six hours and he’d get to see Dean in person.  He’d been waiting a month as it was to get the man into his bed.  This would totally be worth it.

“It’s not too soon for the weekend stays?”  She asked around another mouthful of ice cream.  They had to finish lunch quickly before their next classes started, so eating politely went out the window.

“No, I really don’t think it is.  I’m 39, I’m single, I don’t have the luxury of casually dating anymore, and Dean feels the same way.  Sure, we’re still getting to know one another, but one thing we both have already figured out is that we’re really comfortable around one another.  If we can’t spend a weekend together, how could we take trips together?  Or maybe even one day live together?  Yes, I think long term.  I don’t want another fiasco like Amelia.  I put six years into a relationship that I should have walked away from after a month.  It’s not like that with Dean.  I want you to meet him.  Maybe this summer I’ll host a get together at my house.  Barbecue, beer, we’ll all relax.  Are you teaching summer courses?” 

“No.  I’m going on a cruise with Ruby.  She already booked the tickets.  It’s for singles.”  She rolled her eyes, which had him laughing.

“Not your idea, I take it?”

“No freaking way.  It makes me feel desperate.  But, maybe I’ll get laid.  Might be some hot guys on the ship.  At the least, I’ll get to work on my tan and maybe see some dolphins.  Plus, she’s paying, not me, so free vacation,”  she replied.

“You and your sister have a very odd relationship.  I couldn’t imagine doing a singles cruise with any of my brothers or sisters.  The only other one that’s single-ish is Gabe, and that’s only because he keeps aggravating his longtime girlfriend Kali and making her leave.  He needs to man up and marry her, not lead her on, make her think he’s going to, and then not.  I’d have strangled him by now,” he said.  She shrugged.

“Eh, she’s single again; I’ve been single for two months now. This is her idea of bonding.”

“My brothers and I bond over football.”

“And your sisters?” she asked.

“We don’t bond,”  he chuckled.  “Well, that’s not really true.  Anna likes gardening.  Naomi hates everything.  People can’t believe we’re twins; we’re as different as night and day.  She’s so damn uptight.”

“I still can’t believe you’re a twin.  You hardly ever mention her.  It’s a shame you’re not close.  Ruby’s five years younger than me, but she’s pretty much my best friend.”

“Dean has two brothers, and he’s close with them both.  I’m actually a little envious about that,” he confessed.  Sometimes having so many siblings could really be lonely.

“So, what are you wearing tonight on your hot date?”  She asked, aiming to swing the conversation back around to something that didn’t get her friend down.

“Oh, I have a navy blue suit set out.  When I get home I’m going to shower and shave, then start getting ready.  The suit is one I save for dates and other events because it’s tailored, and I look damn good in it.”  He looked down at his nails.  “Maybe I should get a manicure, it’s overdue.”

“You get your nails done?”  she asked, caught off guard by that.

“I just get them clipped, cleaned, and filed.  They used a clear polish once and I felt weird for days.  I just like everything neatly trimmed, and my nails are not as nice as I would like.” 

She looked down at her own nails.  They looked like hell.

“How about we stop after work and do that together?  I could use a mani-pedi myself.”

He grinned.  “Sure.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Dean hauled his bags in the front door and dropped them.  He didn’t have the energy to haul them up the stairs yet.  A quick check of his watch told him it was 11:05.  Cas was still at the university, probably lecturing young minds on the reign of Constantine, or about doomsday cults, or whatever else he taught.  He was too tired to really think about that right now. 

Bobby had chastised both him and Cassie, and told them to go home and get some rest after they’d arrived back at the office barely able to stand after nearly two days spent awake and going over new evidence.  He hadn’t argued too hard.  Exhaustion had him swaying on his feet, and he wanted to be fresh for his date with Cas that night, so he headed upstairs.  After setting his alarm to make sure he was up by four, he stripped down to his undershirt and boxers, and then collapsed in his bed.  He’d barely closed his eyes before he was out.

The alarm sounded weird when it went off, and he realized that was because the phone was still clutched in his hand.  With a groan he rolled onto his back and shut it off.  It hadn’t been nearly enough sleep but any longer and he’d completely throw off his sleep schedule, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep later tonight with Cas. 

Cas.  That brought a huge smile to his face.  He’d focused on his work during the trip, but the moment he had time alone, or he was crawling into bed for the night, his thoughts immediately turned to the handsome professor that was turning his world upside down.  Tonight he’d get to hold Cas in his arms, kiss him, and-

Yeah, that thought was threatening to wake up other parts of his anatomy, and he didn’t have time for that.  Hauling himself up from bed, he threw on a pair of sweatpants and his new, orthopedic flip flops so he could go outside and check on the pond.  He headed downstairs and out into the backyard.

The pond surface was calm, only a few bugs daring to alight on the surface, just to be snatched up by the waiting koi beneath.  Quacking drew his attention, and he noticed the ducks walking under the oak tree with their newly hatched babies.  It brought a huge, happy smile to his face.  The parents spotted him, and the mama started quacking loudly and walking towards the deck.

“Ok, ok, let me see what I have in the fridge, ok?  Hang on,” he told her and hurried back inside.  Before he’d left, he’d bought some romaine and tomatoes for salads, so he grabbed one of the heads of romaine and went back outside.  He took a seat on the bottom step and began shredding it.

“Got some hungry little babies, huh.  Here you go,” he cooed as he threw the tiny pieces down.  The parents quacked loudly as they gobbled the lettuce up, and encouraged their babies to try it.  This was his favorite time of year, getting to interact with the ducklings.  When they’d had their fill he carried the rest of the shredded plant matter over to the pond and sprinkled it over the surface.  He watched as the koi nibbled at it.  The feeders were full.  Cas was taking care of them as promised, and he appreciated that.  Movement in the yard next door drew his attention and he turned to see a man standing near Cas’ deck. 

“Can I help you?”  He moved over to the fence, careful not to step on the roses.  The man looked up sharply, but didn’t move.

“Gas company.  I’m reading the meter.” 

Something felt off, but that could just be the fact that he was FBI. 

“Meter’s on this side of the porch.”  He pointed at it and the man followed with his eyes.  As he came around the stairs, Dean noted his shirt and pants.  He wasn’t positive the man’s uniform was from their gas company, but he intended to check.  The man’s nametag read Roger.  He had a clipboard in his hand, and a meter in the other.

“Thanks.  I was just put on this route.”  Roger muttered before checking the meter.

“You gonna check mine?”  Dean asked.

“Already did.  You weren’t outside when I did.”  The man was already walking away.  Dean pulled his phone out and called Charlie.

“Sup, FBI man?” she greeted him cheerily.

“Can you check on something for me?  Someone just randomly showed up in my neighbor’s yard to do a meter reading, but something seemed off about it.  Vectron Gas, 127 Pale Oak Drive.  Meter reader’s name was Roger.”

He could already hear her tapping away on her computer.  This was unorthodox, but with new murders popping up, and his own boyfriend fitting into the victim profile, he was more than a little bit on high alert.

“I’m sending you a picture now.  Is this the guy?” 

He put her on speaker phone and pulled up the picture she had just sent him.  That was not the man that had just been in Cas’ yard.

“No.  This guy was thin, maybe early 40’s, dark hair, dark eyes.  And he was over by the basement window when I spotted him instead of by the meter.  The whole thing felt off.  I’m standing out front now, and I don’t see a company truck anywhere.”  As he’d dialed Charlie, he’d hurried out front to try and catch the truck’s plate number, but the truck and the meter reader were nowhere to be seen.

“Ok, so Vectron doesn’t send readers out at this time of the month, unless it’s by customer request.  Did your neighbor request a reading?” she asked.

“I will get back to you on that.”  He didn’t even say goodbye before he was hanging up and texting Cas.

**Dean:**  Hey, did you request a meter reading for today?  There was someone in your yard, but over by your basement window instead of the meter.  Had the right equipment when I pointed out he was in the wrong spot.  From where I stood by the fence, it looked like he was reading the meter, but not til after I even told him where it was.  I didn’t see a truck out front either.  If you did, no harm, no foul.  If you didn’t, then someone was trying to break into your house.

He looked around his quiet neighborhood.  Everything looked so peaceful, and yet there was a sense of dread building up inside of him he couldn’t shake.  Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he headed back into the yard. The ducks were all looking up at him with matching curious expressions.

“Strangers snooping around.  Just trying to keep everyone safe,” he said.  Mama duck quacked once before ushering her kids over to the pond.  His phone buzzed with a text finally.

**Cas:**  I don’t have natural gas.  Everything in my house is electric.  I had it all converted when I moved in.  There’s no reason for the gas company to be in my yard.  Are you sure it was the gas company?

**Dean:**  Positive.  His shirt said Vectron.  Does the alarm on your house work?

**Cas:**  It’s not tied in to an alarm company.  The previous owners installed it.  It’ll blare if it’s set off, but that’s about it.  Do I need to get it turned on?

**Dean:**  I highly recommend you do.  I’ll give you the number to my company.  It’s the same one the last owners used, after I recommended it to them, so all you have to do is give them a call and they’ll come update the system and turn it on. I’ll feel better knowing you're safe when I’m not here.

**Cas:**  I’ll call them tomorrow.  Maybe they can get someone out by Monday.

**Dean:**  Would you be mad if I asked you to spend the weekend over here instead? 

**Cas:**  Not at all.  I’ll be home in about an hour, then I have to shower and get ready.  We’re still on for tonight, right?

**Dean:**  We definitely are.  Lock your house up tight when you get home.  Windows too.  Don’t leave anything open.  I’m going to contact the gas company.

**Cas:**  Please be careful.  I’ll see you soon.

Dean dialed Charlie again.

“You know, it hurts every time you hang up without saying goodbye.”

“Sorry, Red.  I found out the house doesn’t even have gas running to it.  It’s completely electric.  There was no reason for a meter reader to be there.”  He hopped the fence, carefully avoiding Cas’ iris bed and went over to the meter.  “And this is an electric meter.  Something is off.”

“Do you think his house is being cased for a robbery?”  she asked.

“I hope that’s all it is.  He fits the profile for the SWM killings.  I hope I’m just being paranoid and overprotective, but my gut says I’m not.”

“Wait, was he in  _ Cas’ _ yard?”  she gasped.

“Yeah, yeah he was.  I told him to get his alarm system turned back on.  He’s doing it as soon as possible.”  He scratched at his jaw as he moved around to the window the guy had been peering into.  It was slightly ajar.  His stomach dropped as he reached out to push at the glass and the window swung inward a few inches.  “Basement window is open.”

“I put in a call to the local police.  They have a unit on the way right now,”  she said.  He heard a car door close, and then another one.  Maybe they were there already. 

He hopped the fence, back into his own yard and went out to the front yard.  A police car was parked in front of Cas’ house and he was glad to see that he knew both of the officers.

“Dean?  Did you call this in?”  Jody Mills asked.

“I called my office.  Our tech analyst called it in.  A man was just here, using the excuse of being here to read the meter.  He was dressed in what looked like an incorrect Vectron uniform, and he was standing by the back basement window instead of the meter.  Threw me off, so I looked him up.  Turns out there were no requests by the homeowner to come read the meter, and that basement window is open,” he explained.

“You were on the property?  Dean, you know better,” Jody chastised.

“He’s my boyfriend, ok?  I have permission to come and go as I please.”  It was a small white lie.  He knew Cas wouldn’t care if he was in the yard.

“Your boyfriend lives next door to you?”  She asked, glancing over at his house.

“Yeah.  He moved in over the winter.”  He still had Charlie on the phone and she was listening quietly.

“Well, ok, let’s take a look at this window then,” she said.

Dean took Jody and her partner Lou around back to the yard and pointed to the window. 

“Did you see the guy actually trying to climb in through the window?”  Lou asked.

“No, he was looking in it though.  I waited a few seconds before I spoke up.  Startled him.  I don’t think he expected anyone to be home from work yet.”

Jody investigated the window briefly before looking at the flower beds in front of it.  Some of the petunias planted there had been trampled.

“Did you step in these?”  she asked.  Dean shook his head.

“No, I would never. I know how much his gardens mean to him,” he replied.

“Ok, well, where’s your boyfriend now?  I think it would be best to speak to him in person,” she said as she stood back up.

“I’ll call him now,” he told her.

“Keep me updated!”  Charlie chirped in his ear.  “And don’t forget to talk to Ash and give a description so he can get a sketch done!”

He made a noise of assent before ending the call and dialing Cas’ number.

“Dean?  Is everything ok?”

“I need you to get home as soon as possible; the police are here right now.  Your basement window was open,”  Dean said by way of greeting.

“Shit.  I’m on my way, be there in ten.”

Dean hung the phone up and held it to his chest.  He hoped it was just a foiled robbery attempt and not something worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well? Anyone catch the clues? ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, next chapter while I actually have some wifi...
> 
> ***SMUT***
> 
> Enjoy...

Cas was running into the backyard eight minutes later.  The moment he spotted Dean, he headed straight for him, letting his boyfriend pull him close.

“You didn’t leave any windows open, did you?”  Dean asked.  He shook his head.

“Absolutely not.  I keep the windows locked.  I have antiques that I wouldn’t want stolen.”

“Well, look here.”  Dean led him over to the window in question. 

“Who trampled my flowers?”  Cas complained as he knelt down beside Jody.  He touched one of the purple petunias.  There was no saving the plants, they’d been all but ground back down into the dirt.  He’d have to make a trip out to Cain’s greenhouse and get more.

“Guessing the perp did,”  Jody replied.  “I was careful to lean over them, not step on them.”

Cas turned his attention to the window.  He touched the glass, just as Dean did earlier, and it swung inward.  “I have these locked with twist bolts on the inside.  This looks like someone used a tool to somehow twist it from the outside.  I didn’t know that was even possible to do!”  The frame itself was slightly damaged.

“I didn’t see any tools in the guy’s hands, but then again I was feeding the ducks.  He wasn’t there when I walked over to the pond.  When I crossed back a minute later he was standing there in front of the window, looking in,”  Dean said. 

“Well, all of the windows in my house are originals, but I keep them locked up tight.”  Cas stood up, dusting off his pants as he did.  Jody stood up too.

“Take them inside, check and see if anything is missing,”  Dean told him.  Cas nodded and led the officers in through his back door.  Dean stayed in the yard, though he went over to investigate the damaged frame.  Yeah, he was having Cas stay at his place until the new alarm system was up and working, and until he could personally replace the locks on the basement windows himself.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Cas returned, officers right behind him, only a few minutes later.

“Nothing that I can tell is missing,” he said. 

“We’re going to get going.  If you see or hear anything strange, give us a call.  Don’t hesitate.  You’re lucky you have FBI right next door; Dean’s good people.”  Jody gave a polite smile to Cas before turning her attention to Dean.

“And you should come back down to O’Shea’s.  You owe me a beer.” 

Dean chuckled and nodded.  “I’ll try to get down there soon.”

Once Jody and Chuck were gone, Cas turned to face Dean.

“That’s rather terrifying.  They think my house is being cased because I’m one of the few without a sign in my yard or windows announcing my alarm system.  Officer Mills says she’s going to talk to a few of the neighbors, see if they have noticed anything unusual.”

“I hope that’s all it is.  Objects can be replaced.  You, however, cannot be.”  Dean caught his hand and pulled him close.  He felt better being able to see and hold his boyfriend in his arms.  As always, Cas melted against him, like he had always belonged in Dean’s arms.

“I’m glad you noticed the man.”

“Well, you weren’t the only thing I missed.  I missed Ron and Hermione.  The eggs hatched while I was gone.  They have eight babies this year.”  Dean brushed a lock of wild, dark hair back from Cas’ forehead and kissed his furrowed brow.

“They must have hatched this morning then.  She was still sitting on eggs yesterday.  I gave them some veggie scraps last night.  They gobbled them up.  Your koi like carrots, by the way.”

Dean huffed out a silent laugh.  “Yeah, I’ve given them shaved carrots before.  They gobble it right up.  Ducks too.”  He placed a hand under Cas’ chin and tilted his face up so he could kiss him.  “I missed you.”

Cas smile and leaned in for another kiss.   “I missed you too.”

Dean’s phone rang and he pulled it out to check it.  Not work, it was his brother Adam.

“Excuse me, I need to answer this, in case my sister-in-law had the baby.”

“I’m going to go and get in the shower.  I’ll be ready by seven.”  Cas promised.  Dean stole one more kiss before accepting the call.  Rather than go around, Dean hopped the fence with ease, disappearing into his house as he talked to his brother.  From the sound of it, Dean’s sister-in-law was in labor.  Once Dean was out of sight, Cas climbed the stairs and went into his own house.  He made sure to lock the door behind himself.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

At seven, the doorbell rang.  Cas checked to make sure there wasn’t any lint on his suit before hurrying to open the door.

“Damn, babe, you look amazing.”  Dean greeted him before stepping into the house and kissing him.

“So do you.  I’m guessing that isn’t an FBI regulation suit,”  Cas teased.  Dean had a potted flower in his hands that he offered.

“Nah, I save this one for hot dates with you.  Here, I picked this up in Utah and brought it back for you.  It’s an indoor plant though, not outdoor.”

“It’s beautiful.  Looks like it’s in the cactus family,”  Cas noted as he carried it into the kitchen.  There was a deep well where the window over the sink sat, and he put the plant down between his pots of herbs.

“It’s a succulent, or so I was told. I saw the beautiful pink flowers and thought you’d like it.”  Dean had followed him and was leaning against the door frame looking sexy as hell in a black suit and crisp white dress shirt.  Cas felt less self-conscious seeing that Dean hadn’t worn a tie either. He also was debating just saying forget dinner and dragging Dean up to his room.

“Thank you, I love it.”  Cas grabbed the lapels of Dean’s jacket and dragged him in for a kiss that showed the handsome agent how much he’d really been missed.  He hadn’t gotten to show him earlier.

“Wow.  Man I missed that.”  Dean grinned.

“I missed you.  More than I thought I would for being so early in our relationship,”  Cas confessed.  Dean kissed him softly.

“Same here.  Every time I looked like I was lost in a daydream, Cassie would ask me if I was thinking of you.  I admit, some of the time I was.”

“Only some of the time?”  Cas’ tone was flirtatious, and man had Dean missed that a lot.

“Well, to be fair, we didn’t really sleep much, we were working on the case almost nonstop, so sometimes I was blankly staring off into the distance because I was too exhausted to really think,”  Dean replied.  Cas’ expression sobered, that worried expression returning.

“But you got sleep?”

“I did.  I came home and got a few hours.  I could have slept longer but then I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, and I want the opportunity to fall asleep with you in my arms.”  Dean took his hand as he pushed off the door frame.  “Reservations are at 7:30.  We better get going.”

They headed for the door, stopping long enough for Cas to lock both locks, and then they were heading over to Dean’s driveway, where the Impala was parked.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The drive was pleasant.  Cas rattled on about his classes, his friend Meg and her upcoming singles cruise trip that her sister was dragging her on, and finals, which were next week.  They talked about taking a trip to the lake to go swimming, and about possibly going on another hike on some nearby trails.  There was an almost palpable electricity between them that neither man had experienced with anyone before, and it didn’t dissipate all through their dinner or on the ride back home.  This time, rather than leaving his precious Baby in the driveway, Dean pulled into the garage.  It was attached to the house so after disarming the alarm, he led Cas into the kitchen and then reset the alarm.

“So, this case of yours.  Any new leads?”  Cas asked as he stripped his suit jacket off and laid it over the back of a chair.

“Possibly.  Charlie is doing some digging, and there’s another team working on computer records, receipts, that kind of stuff,”  Dean replied as he stripped off his own jacket.  He got a bottle of wine out of the cooler under the counter, opened it and fetched two glasses from the cabinet.

“Well, I hope they find whatever you need to catch this man.  It freaks me out that the victims are all single men around my age.  I know you can’t tell me anything, so I’ve been following it on the news.  I should have really gotten the alarm system updated when I moved in, and replaced those basement windows.”  Cas accepted the glass of wine he was handed and sipped at it. 

“Don’t worry, tomorrow I’m checking those windows out and I’m replacing the locks myself.  Even if your house was just being targeted by thieves, I don’t want them breaking in while you’re there.”  Dean’s tone left no room for argument.  Cas sort of liked it when he got dominant like that.

“Ok,”  he agreed.

“Come here.”  Dean had barely taken a sip from his own glass before he was walking around the island and pulling Cas into his arms. 

The kiss was heated and tasted of grapes.  It tasted fabulous, and Cas easily opened up to him.  Dean absolutely loved the way he could just pull his boyfriend close, and how Cas would just let him maneuver him how he wanted him, which currently was pressed up against the counter so he could slot one of his legs between both of Cas’.  He’d never been with a man so willing to just go along with what he wanted.  His fingers pulled at Cas’ dress shirt until it was untucked from his pants.  He was dying to get his hands on bare skin and really  _ feel _ just how amazing the man’s body was.  The tips of his fingers brushed across Cas’ stomach, making the muscles there jump.  He wanted the shirt off, so he pulled back to start on the buttons.  Cas placed his hands on the counter behind him to brace himself.

“Hurry,” he urged. Dean’s fingers flew over the buttons, and soon he was able to shove the fabric open.  Cas’ body was magnificent from a distance but up close like this?  There weren’t words to describe how perfect he was.  His thumbs rubbed over the man’s exposed nipples, and he heard how Cas’ breathing was beginning to speed up.  He latched onto one, sucking lightly before rolling his tongue over the stiff bud.  There was no rush.  They had all weekend. 

He moved on to the other nipple, and then up Cas’ chest to his neck.  That seemed to set the man on fire because suddenly he was bucking underneath him and grabbing onto him tightly.

“Mmm, sensitive there, I see.” He nipped at Cas’ throat before running his tongue over the spot to sooth it.

“Y-yes!  Very!  If you keep that up, I’ll be coming long before you ever get me into your bed,” Cas warned. Dean pressed him back against the counter once again as he worked the leather belt around his boyfriend’s waist open. 

“Kick your shoes off,” he instructed.  It took Cas a moment, and Dean holding him up before he could get them both off.  He unbuttoned the navy blue dress pants, the only thing standing between him and the hard cock hiding behind them.  Cas looked completely debauched standing there with his shirt hanging off one shoulder and his pants hanging open.  Dean decided he wanted to see him like this as often as possible.

“Dean, don’t just stare.”  Cas held his hands out, wrists up.  “Undo the cufflinks, please, so I can take this off.”

Dean did as asked, carefully placing the silver cufflinks on the counter so they could be pocketed and taken home later.  He slid the shirt off Cas’ shoulders and watched it flutter to the floor.  Cas was busy pulling his socks off, tossing them on top of his shirt.

“You’re so beautiful, so perfect,”  Dean murmured the words softly into his skin as he placed his hands back on Cas’ hips. 

“I like when you tell me that.”  Cas sighed as Dean kissed the bolt of his jaw.

“Then I vow to tell you it as often as possible.” 

Cas pulled Dean’s neatly tucked in shirt out of his pants and began unbuttoning it.

“I want you undressed too.”

Dean smiled and started unbuttoning the cuffs to help him along.  He kicked his shoes off before grabbing Cas by the hand and leading him toward the stairs. 

When they reached the bedroom, Dean flipped the light switch on.  Mentally he cursed himself for not having made the bed after his nap earlier, but Cas didn’t seem to care.  He was too busy opening Dean’s belt and then unbuttoning his pants.  They were shoved down his legs, leaving him standing there in a pair of tight, black boxer briefs.  Dean’s erection was straining against them, and Cas didn’t have to peek to know the tease about a tiny penis was 100% inaccurate were Dean was concerned.

“Dean, please, I need you.”  He begged as he palmed his boyfriend lightly through his underwear.  Dean pressed into his touch as he started guiding him back toward the bed.

“Yeah?  You want me inside you?  All  _ nine _ inches of me?  I can fuck you until you can’t see straight, is that what you want?”  His voice had dropped several octaves and it had his boyfriend whining and pulling at the edge of his underwear.

“Yes!  Please!”  Cas shifted his hips so his pants would fall down, and then he was stepping out of them.  He was so hard it hurt.  Dean’s fingers folded around him, stroking him with just enough pressure that it made his knees weak.  Suddenly the hand was gone, and he found himself being scooped up and deposited in the center of the bed. 

“You’re even more beautiful like this, sweetheart.  I don’t want you holding back.  Let me hear every single sound you make.”  Dean shucked his underwear and crawled up and over him.

“Fuck.  So that’s what nine inches looks like.”  Cas was breathing hard, his blue eyes locked on the massive cock in front of him.  He’d never in his life had another partner  _ this _ big.  Not even Balthazar who bragged about how big he was, and then proved to only be six inches fully hard.  To his credit though, the man knew how to use what had been given him, and Cas had experienced some pretty decent orgasms with him.  He suspected they’d be even better with Dean though.

“I promise not to hurt you.”  The words were spoken against his lips as Dean kissed him again.  He grabbed his boyfriend’s ass and pulled him down flush to his own body.  The pre-come slicked the way as he rutted against him, drawing deep moans from them both.

Dean pulled back to reach over to the nightstand and open the drawer.  He fished out the bottle of lube in there and came back onto the bed.  Cas looked good gardening naked, but nothing compared to having him lying here in his bed with kiss swollen lips, hooded eyes, and every inch of his skin flushed with need.  And that cock, while attractive under any circumstances was gorgeous when it was hard and leaking. 

He nudged Cas’ legs open and positioned himself so he was kneeling between them.  Cas stroked his own cock lazily as Dean opened the bottle of lube and poured some over his fingers.  The view before him was stunning, but it went up a few notches the moment he slipped one finger in.  Cas moaned low and pushed down on Dean’s finger, drawing it in deeper.  It was only a few minutes later that he was able to add a second one, and then he started working Cas open.

“Fuck, baby, you’re so tight.”  He moved up the bed to kiss Cas, startling at how hungry the man was for his touch.  Strong arms came around him, drawing both his tongue and his fingers in deeper.  Soft whimpers and moans spurred him on, and he slipped a third one in while his mouth explored all of the gorgeous, tan skin before him.

Cas responded eagerly to every brush of lips across his skin, to every kiss, every nibble, and when Dean paused to suck a mark or two on his chest, he cried out, his hands scrambling to hold onto Dean as he continued to take him apart.  Dean wasn’t quite ready yet to bring an end to this dance though.  He loved every sound, every reaction he was getting, and he wanted more.

Withdrawing his fingers drew a whine from Cas, but Dean’s tongue was soon pressing against his hole, making him gasp.  Dean had given plenty of blowjobs in his time, and he’d give oral to women, but one thing he’d never done was eat another man out.  Cas wasn’t pushing for it, but he was panting hard, his body already tense and waiting, and well, Dean was curious.  He snuck a bit more lube onto his fingers and slipped them back in.  It was cherry flavored and he didn’t mind doing it if he continued getting the same reactions.  He slid his tongue in alongside his fingers, using them to stretch the muscle so he could stroke the inner walls with his tongue better.

“Fuck!”  Cas screamed, arching off the bed when two fingers rubbed over his prostate.  Dean’s tongue was continuing its assault as well, and he was fighting not to come.  Dean withdrew his tongue and pressed a series of tender kisses to the insides of Cas’ thighs. 

“You are so fucking perfect.”  He reached over to the drawer and fished a condom out of the box he’d bought a few days earlier.  As Cas watched, he opened the package and slid the rubber on.

“I can’t wait to feel you.   _ All _ of you,” Cas purred.

“Oh, you’ll feel me, alright.  No doubt about that.”  Dean chuckled.  He was still deciding what position he wanted to do this in when Cas flipped over onto his stomach, got up on all fours, and lifted his ass up in the air.

“Come on, baby, let me feel you,” he begged.  Dean added more lube, generously coating Cas’ insides and his own dick before grabbing his boyfriend’s hips and lining himself up. 

He was not just big length wise, but he was pretty thick too, and as eager as Cas was, he refused to go too fast and hurt him.  It took every ounce of willpower he had not to just slide all the way in right off the bat.  He moved slowly, listening to every gasp, every moan, every whimper Cas made, and it took what felt like forever before he was finally pressed up tight against him.

“Fuck, you feel so good…”  Cas whined.  Dean grinned.  He liked seeing Cas like this. 

Once he was sure he wasn’t going to come just from the heat and pressure surrounding him, Dean started to move.  He pulled back until only the head was still inside, and in one smooth movement, slid all the way back in.

“Again!  Oh my  _ God _ !”  Cas pushed back against him, urging him to keep moving.  He set a pace, intending to be gentle so he didn’t hurt Cas, but the man had other ideas.  He began pushing back on every thrust until the only sounds that could be heard was skin slapping against skin, Cas’ moans, and Dean’s heavy breathing as he felt his orgasm beginning to build.  Cas felt amazing.  He was so tight and hot, and the pressure stroked his cock in all the right ways.  A slight shift of his hips had him hitting Cas’ prostate on every thrust.  Muscles clenched around him, squeezing him, urging him on until he was thrusting harder and faster.  He reached down to grab Cas’ neglected cock and he began to pump in time with his thrusts. 

He felt the moment Cas’ orgasm hit.  His entire body locked up, punching a shout from his lips as he squeezed tight around Dean’s cock.  His cock pulsed with every wave of come, and Dean stroked him through his orgasm.  When his arms threatened to give out, Dean pulled him up so that Cas’ back was flush against his chest.  The new angle let him go deeper, and Cas groaned with how good that felt.  He was spent, but he was still deriving immense pleasure from it all.  And he really, really wanted Dean to come hard.

Dean’s thrusts were becoming erratic as his entire body began to tingle with pleasure.  It felt so good, and he was so close.  When Cas clenched tight one last time, it proved to be his undoing.  He came with a snap of his hips and a shout, emptying into the condom.  His legs started to shake as he gently pulled out. 

“Fuck that was…”  He huffed out a small laugh, unable to vocalize just  _ how _ fantastic that had been.  Cas had used the blanket to clean himself off before he worked the condom off of Dean.

“I’ll be right back.” 

Dean grunted, and Cas took that as an affirmation before sliding off the bed and heading for the bathroom.  Thankfully Dean was neat and organized, and had clean washcloths in the cabinet.  He did a better cleanup of himself, wiping away the lube that seemed to be oozing from his body, and then got another cloth to clean Dean up with.  When he returned to the bedroom Dean cracked an eye open and smiled.

“Thought that’s where you went.”

“I’m sorry I used the blanket to wipe myself off.  If I didn’t I’d have been dripping semen all over your floors.  That’s grosser than just pulling the covers off and tossing them in the wash.”  Cas explained as he climbed back onto the bed and started cleaning Dean up.

“Thank you.  I don’t care about the blankets, I’ll toss them in the wash later.  Just kick them off the bed.” 

Cas did as he asked, and tossed the dirty washcloth down with it before curling up against Dean’s side.

“You have further proved my theory that you are perfect.  That was absolutely amazing.”  He pressed a kiss to one freckled shoulder and smiled when Dean turned his head to look at him.

“Yeah, that’s some of the best sex I’ve ever had. Maybe  _ the _ best. I think I outdid myself.  Hope I can live up to that next time,” he joked.  Cas laughed and snuggled in closer until Dean brought his arm up and around his shoulders.

“I have no doubts as to your abilities.  That’s the first time I was ever…well, that form of oral sex was a first for me.”  Cas admitted.

“Yeah?  It was a first for me too.  I thought you were going to come more than a few times just from my tongue.”  Dean stroked his fingers up and down Cas’ shoulder.  His skin was cool to the touch and slightly damp from sweat.

“I was close.  I’m very sensitive when I’m aroused.  It doesn’t take a whole lot to make me come.  I have always been able to experience multiple orgasms though, so sex is very pleasurable for me.”  Cas’ hand slid across Dean’s stomach, his knuckles brushing against his soft cock in their travels.  “You’re amazing though, with your fingers, your tongue, your…”  He wrapped his fingers around Dean’s length and gave it a few pumps. 

“You’re pretty damn fantastic too.  I don’t know that I can get it up again this soon, but fuck if I’m not willing to give it a try.”  Dean twitched in Cas’ hand, making the other man grin.

“Mmm, I’d like to see if I can get you standing at attention again.”

Dean twitched again at the thought.  Yes, he was completely on board with that idea!

“Be my guest,” he said. 

Yes, this was definitely the best sex he’d ever had in his life!

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff. I just hope you enjoy it.

“Walking a little funny there, friend.”  Ed joked as Dean made his way to his desk.

“I pulled some muscles this weekend.  A hot bath helped but I’m still a bit sore.”  Dean grunted as he sat down.  Cassie peered over her mug of coffee at him.  She had been at her desk for at least 10 minutes before he arrived and seeing him grimace as he tried to get comfortable was amusing.

“Need a cush for your tush?” she teased.  He shot her a dirty look that had Ed bursting out laughing.

“It’s not my ass, you jerks.  I’ve just…not had sex in a while.  My body was out of practice.  Besides,” he smirked,  “it’s Cas that needs a cushion.”

Cassie barked out a laugh of surprise that just had Dean looking even more smug.

“Good weekend, I take it.”  Ed patted him on the shoulder.

“It was a fantastic weekend, if you don’t count the creepy guy that tried to break into Cas’ house,”  Dean said.  Cassie and Ed both sobered up quickly.

“What are you talking about?  Who tried to break in?” she asked.

Dean spent the next few minutes explaining what had happened Friday.

“I talked to the police that responded.  They’re friends of mine, and Jody says no one else in the area saw a truck or saw the guy, and the gas company has no record of sending anyone out to my area.  Cas has a meeting this afternoon, though, with the alarm company.  He’s getting the system updated.  I set up a couple of cameras, just in case, and added a few more on my own property.  It’s set so that if anyone triggers them, my phone will vibrate with an alert.  The ones I set up inside Cas’ house, though, only he can see those.  I’m not a perv.”

“Good idea with the cameras.  That’s creepy.  I hope it was a simple robbery that you thwarted and nothing else.”  Cassie shuddered, not wanting to think worst-case scenarios. 

“That’s what I’m hoping for too.  He stayed until this morning, and then went home.  The house was locked up tight and the sensors didn’t go off all weekend.”  Dean kept his phone close, just in case.

“So, you and Cas are getting along well?” she asked.

“We get along great.  He’s amazing.  I can’t wait for you guys to meet him.  Sammy met him when my foot got hurt, at the hospital, but he says he likes Cas, that he’s a good guy.  Cas is excited to meet the people I work with.  I told him you guys are like family to me, and so he says that makes you all important to him.  He actually wants to make a good impression on you guys.”  Dean was still amused by that.  He was also impressed, too.  No one he’d dated before had cared whether his coworkers liked them.

Bobby walked up, his typical scowl in place as he looked at everyone.

“Have a good weekend?” he asked.

“Mine was ok. Painted Danny’s room, then relaxed Sunday and watched TV,”  Cassie replied.  Ed nodded too.

“I went shopping with Harry.  We’re taking a cooking class together.”

“How nice,”  Bobby said dryly.  He looked down at Dean.  “What about you?  I hear you got yourself a pretty boy professor.”

Dean snorted and squinted up at him.

“Who told you that?”

“Everyone.  I had to listen for five minutes about how blue his damn eyes are.  So who is this guy?  How long you been seeing him?”

“His name is Cas.  Doctor Castiel Novak.  He’s a history and religion professor over at the university.  He’s 39, never married, and probably the sweetest guy I’ve ever dated.  We’ve been going out a month now.  I’m bringing him to our barbecue next month.”  Dean replied as he pulled his phone out.  He quickly scrolled past the pictures he’d taken of Cas in his bed and pulled up one of the two of them that he’d shown everyone else.  He held it up so Bobby could see.

“Huh.  Guess he does have really blue eyes.”

Dean barked out a laugh, as did the others.

“His eyes are as gorgeous as the rest of him.”  He tucked his phone away again.

“Well, I look forward to meeting him.”  Bobby patted him on the shoulder before continuing on up to his office. 

“I can’t believe he commented on his eyes,”  Cassie said, still laughing.

“Yeah, I have no idea where that came from.”  Dean shook his head.  “What are we working on today?  Anything good?”

Cassie passed a file over to him.  “Body found in the Hudson River.  Third this week.  This one washed up on the Jersey side.  They match some cases we were working on last year.  The murders that police thought were prostitute killings, until we got in there and determined that they weren’t prostitutes at all.  Six women killed, in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio.”

“So our killer popped back up, is that what you’re saying?”  He flipped the file open.  Three more women dead, all in their early to mid-twenties, all with long, blonde hair.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.  Or else we have a copycat.” 

Dean sighed.  “So, we’re heading to New York?”

“Looks like.”

Fuck.  He pulled his phone out and texted Cas.

**Dean:**  Sorry babe, murder case in NY.  Leaving in a few.  Be back hopefully tonight.

**Cas:**  Same case?

**Dean:**  No, young women.  Case I worked on last year.  Killer was never caught.  Looks like he’s back.

**Cas:**  Please be careful.  I’ll feed the fish and ducks.  I’ll also make extra for dinner, in case you do get home tonight.  So you don’t have to cook.

**Dean:**  Seriously, you don’t have to.  You’re too good to me.

**Cas:**  I care, and I want to.  I’ll see you either tonight or hopefully tomorrow.  Text me at some point and let me know where you are.

**Dean:**  Will do.  Let me know once the new alarm system is in place.

**Cas:**  I will.

Dean tucked his phone away and stood up.  His ass and lower back were so tight from his nearly nonstop weekend activities that he knew he’d be sore for days, but it had totally been worth it.  Now though, he couldn’t concentrate on his own pain; he had a case to solve.

“Let’s do this.”

Cassie and Ed both nodded.  It was time to get moving.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


Cas stood most of the morning at his podium.  He was too sore to pace and definitely too sore to sit for very long.  It was worth it though.  A weekend of mind-blowing sex made the pain feel like a small price to pay.  When his free period rolled around, he hurried down to the cafeteria as quickly as his sore body would let him.  He stopped in the bathroom to use his Tucks pads and take some Tylenol.  The last thing he needed was for Meg to know he was hurting.  Even if it was a good hurt.  Feeling infinitely better, he found her sitting at their usual table and joined her. 

“So?  Details.  How was your sexy weekend?”  Were the first words out of her mouth the moment he sat down.  He couldn’t fight the grin that wanted to take permanent residency on his face.  Since moving here and meeting the Social Sciences teacher, she had become one of his closest friends, and she had very quickly learned how to read him.

“It was amazing.  Jesus he’s a beast in bed!  Kept up with me the entire way, and no one has ever been able to before.  We got out of bed to eat, to fix the locks on my basement windows, and to feed the ducks.  That was it.  I’ve never had sex that good in my life!”  he gushed.  She was grinning with him, her hands clasped together in excitement.

“Oh my God, seriously?  The entire weekend you spent  _ having sex _ ?!”

He nodded enthusiastically.  “I have a fairly strong sex drive, and I’ve been dying to get him in my bed since the moment I first laid eyes on him, but I don’t have time for games or casual sex, so we took our time getting to know each other.  I didn’t even kiss him till the third date because I didn’t trust myself not to just, like, jump on his dick.  He’s an absolute gentleman though, and even though my flirting was driving him nuts, he let me dictate when I was ready.  When he knew he had this weekend off, we made plans to spend it together.  I just…I love being in his arms.  I felt safe.  It’s not like he’s that much bigger than me, cause he’s not.  Maybe three inches taller?  But he’s strong.  His arms and chest are the stuff of my teenage wet dreams.  I’m crazy about him.”

“Sounds like someone’s falling in love.”  She poked him playfully, still smiling. 

“Maybe.  Too soon to say, but I definitely care about him.  He’s so good to me.  I’ve never felt so cared about this early on in a relationship before.  He’s as serious as me about making this work.  I think that by nature, he’s just the nurturing type.  Probably because he’s the oldest child, he took care of his younger brothers.  I’m the middle child, one of six, and twin to the biggest prude in the history of the universe.  I could be a selfish shit, but that’s not my nature.  I like coming first in his attentions, it makes me feel special, but I want to take care of him too.  My favorite thing to do is cook for him.  He gets so excited when I make him something, and he devours it all.  Makes me feel appreciated.”  He dug into the homemade taco salad he’d whipped up and brought for lunch. 

“So.  Is he a top or a bottom?”  She cocked an eyebrow, ignoring his eye roll.

“You realize that is not an appropriate question, right?” 

“Do I look like the appropriate question asking type?”  She shot back at him.  God, he was dying to tell  _ someone _ just how well-endowed his boyfriend was.

“He topped. Every. Single. Time. Because I wanted him to. The Gods blessed him with the biggest, fattest dick I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing in person, and I took full advantage of it. For three and a half days straight.”

She sat back in her seat, jaw hanging in shock.  He smirked and took another bite of his food.  Talking with Meg often felt like he was back in high school, gossiping with his best friend.  She made him feel young again, even though she had two years up on  _ him _ .

“How big are we talking?”  She finally asked.

“Roughly nine inches.”

“Holy…”  Her jaw dropped again.  “You lucky son of a bitch!  My last boyfriend was maybe  _ six _ !  Hard!”

He shrugged and gleefully finished off his food.

“I tell you, he’s about as perfect as can be.  He texted me this morning to let me know he has a case out in New York that he’s working on, so he flew out right after that.  He thinks he’ll be back by tonight, so I’m making enough food for him and me.  If he comes back tonight, he doesn’t have to cook.  If he doesn’t get back, well, I will have lunch for tomorrow.” 

“Same case he’s been working on?” she asked.  He shook his head.

“No, this is an old case, but new bodies turned up.  I think it has something to do with that Bridgette girl that was found partially decapitated in the Hudson River last night.  I was looking through the news while my classes worked on an in class assignment and it’s on just about every news page, and it’s all over Facebook.”

“Yeah, I think I saw a live report from a helicopter that was flying over the crime scene.  All it showed though were cop cars and a really filthy river.”  She said.  “Said she was like 21?  22?  Something like that.”

“She was 26.  I only remember that because today is the 26 th .”  He had an aptitude for numbers.  Sometimes it was more of a curse.

“Poor thing.  I hope they catch the bastard.” 

“Yeah, me too,”  He agreed.

“So, end of year party is coming up.  You bringing your sexy boy toy?  I am dying to meet him.” 

“I forgot about that.  Shit, I have to ask him, see if he’s available.  If I do bring him, you have to promise me two things,” he said.  She arched an eyebrow at him.

“First one?”

“No talking about our sex life.  No talking about his dick, his stamina, nothing.  All talk of sex is 100% off the table.”  He held up a finger, ticking that off his list.  That made her frown.

“Fine.  What’s the second one?”

“No looking at his dick.  Not even covertly,” he said.

“Oh, come on!  You suck, Cas!”

He laughed.  “That I do.”

“Ewww!”

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


Cas got home with five minutes to spare before the alarm technician arrived.  He hurried to change into some shorts and a tee shirt, and when the door knocked, he tried not to sound as harried as he felt when he opened it.

The talk was brief and he made his decision pretty quickly on what package he wanted, mostly because it was the one Dean had recommended.  While the technician got started on the alarm system, he got started on dinner.  He decided on chicken parmesan and ravioli.  For good measure, he put together some homemade garlic bread to go with it. 

The technician didn’t take more than an hour since all he was doing was upgrading the existing system, and then he was walking Cas through how to arm and disarm it.  He explained that he could view people on his porch, front and back, without actually opening the door, and that a speaker on the outside of the house would allow him to speak to any visitors that came by.  The system would alert him to people on his porch, even when he wasn’t home, thanks to an app he could download, and the alarm company itself was only a phone call away.  Cas was left with a detailed manual on how to work the system. Before the tech left, Cas set up a pin. When the tech left, he changed it.  It wasn’t terribly difficult to figure out, and he was fairly sure he could manage it.  He figured that if he did experience any issues with it, Dean could walk him through it.  He shot off a quick text to his boyfriend to let him know he had the new system up and running, and then he went back to finishing the rest of his dinner preparations.

Around nine, the app on his phone beeped, alerting him that someone was on his porch.  When he loaded the app he saw a familiar form standing on at the door, smiling up at the camera.  His heart leapt into his throat and he hurried from his office to go open the door.

At the last minute he remembered to disarm the alarm.  He opened the door and smiled wide at his boyfriend.

“Did you just get back?”

“Yep.  I wanted to see how well the alarm was working, so I didn’t ring the bell.  I see it works great.  I barely climbed up the stairs before you were opening the door.”  Dean leaned in to kiss him, and Cas practically dragged him into the house.

“It notified me immediately.  I think, barring any internet issues, it will work incredibly fast.”  Cas said as he pulled Dean along to the kitchen.  “I kept dinner warm for you."

“You really didn’t have to cook for me, babe, but I appreciate it.” 

Dean sat down at the kitchen table when Cas pointed at one of the chairs, and a moment later a plate of hot food was being set down in front of him.  His stomach rumbled at the scent of sauce and cheese.

“I like cooking for you.  You appreciate it,”  Cas poured him a glass of tea and set that down next to the plate Dean was devouring.

“It’s really, really good. You’re probably the best cook I know, next to my mom,” Dean said after a sip of tea. “Damn, did you make the tea yourself too?”

“We are in the South, Dean,”  Cas joked.  “Knowing how to make tea is an essential part of living here, but I like to play around with it, infuse different flavors into it.  This is peach tea.  If you like, there’s a pitcher of blackberry tea in the fridge as well.”

“I do want to try that later, but this is some of the best sweet tea I’ve ever had.  See, now you’re living up to my theory that  _ you’re _ perfect.”  Dean winked at him before digging back into his food.  He moaned around a mouthful of the garlic bread.  That was definitely the best he’d ever had.  When he finished, Cas collected the plate and utensils, rinsing them and placing them in the dishwasher.  He refilled Dean’s glass, this time with the blackberry tea.

“Shit, I think maybe I like this even more,”  Dean told him. 

“Good, you can have as much as you want.”  Cas offered as they made their way into the living room.  He noticed the way Dean was limping.  “Is your foot bothering you?”

“I spent most of the day on my feet.  The inserts and brace only help so much; my foot is still healing,”  Dean explained.  He sighed with relief as he settled himself on the couch.  Cas knelt on the floor in front of him and before he could ask what the man was doing, his shoe and sock were gone.  Strong fingers began working the muscles of his foot, and gently stretching the tendon.

“I’ll get you some ice for that.”  He left long enough to get the ice pack from the freezer and a dish towel to wrap it in.  When he returned he propped Dean’s foot up on the coffee table and secured the ice pack to the bottom of his foot.

“You’re going to spoil me,” Dean warned, smiling as Cas sat down beside him.

“Good, you deserve it.”  He pressed in close to Dean’s side, smiling happily when he felt fingers carding through his hair.

“So, how was your day?”  Dean asked.

“Mmm, long.  Not much to tell, really.  Most of my classes I gave an in-class assignment to.  The rest were lectures.  Oh!  There’s a staff end-of-year party, and I wanted to know if you’d come with me.”

“Sure, when?”  Dean asked.

“It’s a week from this coming Friday, at the university, 8 p.m.  It’s wine, cheese and crackers, and my coworkers all celebrating the fact that most of us won’t be teaching summer courses.  The university runs a literal skeleton crew of staff over the summer, and there were no courses they wanted me to teach, therefore I’m one of the lucky ones that gets my summer off.”  Cas was glad for that.  He had plans now, with Dean, but he also wanted to go see his parents and the rest of his family.

“As long as nothing comes up, I’ll definitely go with you,”  Dean tentatively promised.

“Good.  My friend Meg is dying to meet you.  I told her how wonderful you are, and she wants to see for herself whether I’m lying.”

Dean chuckled.  “I keep telling you, I’m not that amazing.  I’d love to meet her though.  I-I’d like to meet more of your friends, if that’s what you want.”  Suddenly he felt shy.  Cas squeezed in even closer and smiled up at him.

“I’d like that.  Most of them are back in Piedmont, and I haven’t seen them in a while.  I have a few more back in Illinois, too, but I haven’t seen them in an even longer time.  Mostly we just email or I see them on FB.  I’d like you to meet them one day, though.”

Dean liked the idea of long term thinking where they were concerned.  He liked Cas a lot and wanted things to work out between them.

“I’d like that.”

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


They talked until Dean was yawning so much he couldn’t see straight for all the tears filling his eyes.  He gathered up his shoe and sock before kissing Cas goodbye and heading back to his house.  Once he was gone, Cas set the alarm and went back to his office to close up his computer and put everything back in his briefcase before heading up to bed.

The next day he got to see Dean for a few minutes before the man was off to work, and that night he found himself in Dean’s bed screaming his name as he came. 

The university party was more fun than Dean had anticipated, and he enjoyed getting to meet the people Cas worked with.  Meg was entertaining, and he could see why Cas was friends with her.

Two weeks later they were standing in Bobby’s backyard enjoying a couple of bottles of cold beer as Dean introduced Cas to all of his friends and coworkers from the BAU.  Everyone was there with their significant other, and Cas was humbled that Dean had included him.  He liked all of the people Dean worked with, especially Charlie.  She was bubbly and friendly.  Her girlfriend Gilda, while shy, was incredibly sweet, and they had a long conversation about their jobs as he was very quickly informed that she was a high school history teacher.  Dean left them to talk while he joined Victor and Ed in a game of Frisbee.  When Cassie arrived with her husband and kids, Dean managed to pull his boyfriend away from a conversation about the state of the economy to introduce them.

“Cassie, hey, I want you to meet Cas,”  Dean said as he caught up with her at the food table.  She was trying to help her six-year-old son pick out food he would actually eat.

“Uncle Dean!”  Danny cried as he threw himself at Dean. 

“Hey, buddy, you treating your mom and dad real good?”  Dean asked as he swung the boy up into his arms.  Danny nodded.

“Yep!  I helped my mom paint my room.  I gots the Avengers up now!” 

Dean smiled.  “That’s awesome!  I’m going to come by and take a look one day real soon, ok?  I hope you have Captain America up, he’s my favorite.”

“Mine too!  And Hawkeye!”  Danny exclaimed.

“Oh, Hawkeye is my favorite,”  Cas said softly.  Dean wrapped his free arm around his boyfriend’s waist and pulled him closer.

“Cassie, Danny, this is Cas.  Cas, this is my partner, Cassie, and this little man, he’s an Avenger in the making, aren’t you?” 

Danny smiled, showing off the spaces in the front where two teeth had recently fallen out.

“Yep!  Imma be an Avenger, like you and Mommy!”

“Hey, I’m not an Avenger?”  A tall, handsome black man asked as he leaned in to kiss Cassie.

“Sure, Daddy!  Cause Mommy and Dean catch the bad guys, then you lock them up!”  Danny exclaimed.  They all laughed.  Dean set Danny back down and Cassie sent him off with a plate of food to go sit with the other kids.  She turned to Cas and offered her hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you.  I feel like I already know you with how much Dean talks about you.” 

Cas shook her hand and nodded graciously.  “He speaks quite a lot about you as well.  This is your husband, Nathan, correct?  Dean says you are the DA?”  He turned his attention to the man standing beside her.

“That would be me.  I work with Dean’s brother, Sam.  Cassie mentioned Dean was seeing a professor.  History, right?”  Nathan asked.   

“Yes.  No more religious studies, just history this next year and whatever else they decide I need to teach,”  Cas replied.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you.  How are you dealing with Dean having to travel so much?”

Cas glanced at Dean before shifting his weight so he was leaning in closer.

“I worry when he’s away, but he’s smart and knows how to take care of himself, so I worry less now than I did at first.  In the beginning I had these horrible ideas that when he was rushing away by plane, he was heading into these awful gun fights, and that his life was constantly at risk, but I realized I’m probably watching too much television, and that most of his work consists of research, interviewing people, and writing reports.” 

Cassie and Dean both laughed and nodded.

“God, there is  _ so _ much paperwork,” she said. “It’s not as exciting as television makes it seem. And there are multiple teams now. With the current increase in drug usage, they’ve practically doubled the number of agents that work those cases.  I do not envy them, though sometimes it feels like our caseload has increased too. A lot we hand over because they’re drug related.” 

“She’s right.  Right now our team is working about 22 homicides, of which at least three seem to be the work of serial killers.  Cassie, Ed, Victor and me, we’re handling two of those on our own.  One Cassie and I started working on over a year ago, then the trail went cold.  It looks like the killer is back though,”  Dean explained.

“Oh, that’s the one I saw on the news, right?  Girl found in the Hudson?”  Cas asked.

“Yes,”  Cassie confirmed.  “He’s sloppier this time, though, and there are more clues.  This time, we have a semen sample.”

“That’s good, and you cross reference it against any suspects you find, right?”

“That’s right, babe.  Thankfully the lab handles that, not us.”  Dean wrinkled his nose, trying not to think about how they retrieved samples.  He knew, he just didn’t want the images of the collection process in his head. 

The afternoon wore on and just as Dean knew he would, Cas charmed everyone.  He was friendly and easy going, and Dean noticed the difference in how he spoke to others compared to how he spoke with Dean.  He sought Dean out too, even if he was talking to someone else.  His fingers would reach out to brush across Dean’s, or he would lean into him.  Instinctively Dean knew he just needed reassurance, and he provided it in the form of gentle touches or an arm around his boyfriend’s waist.  Everyone seemed to like the handsome professor; even Bobby, who was a history buff and pulled Cas into a conversation about the Civil War. 

Dean grabbed another beer and some food for them, and they sat down with Bobby and his girlfriend Ellen to talk.  Mostly he listened.  He loved the sound of Cas’ voice, but more than anything he loved the sound of the man’s laugh.  It rang out across the yard many times as the afternoon faded into evening.  When the bugs started coming out, Dean decided it was time to leave.  Most everyone still there expressed the opinion that Dean needed to bring him to the Christmas party.  He fully intended to.

They went back to Cas’ house.  Once upstairs, they stripped down and went about brushing their teeth and climbing into bed.

“Your friends are very nice.  I see why you are all like one big family.”  Cas wasted no time in fitting himself up against Dean.  They were both exhausted, but he craved the closeness, and Dean only pulled him closer.

“They loved you too.  I know I’ll be hearing for weeks about how you’re too good for me.”  Dean buried his face against Cas’ neck and breathed deeply.  He smelled of sun and the coconut from his body wash, and Dean couldn’t get enough of it.

“My brother Gabe wants to meet you.  I’d like to have him over for dinner, probably next weekend so you two can meet.” 

“Sure.  Or…”  He stroked his fingers down Cas’ hip.  “I could try and impress you with my culinary skills, and you could come to dinner at my place.”

“You want to cook?  I can come and help.”

“I’d like that.  Maybe we’ll do fancy with some filet mignon, and some sort of potato.  Scalloped?  Or twice baked.  Something like that.”  Dean wasn’t sure what he’d make, but he wanted it to be good.

“I know where to get really good cuts of meat.  I’ll pick them up the night before.  Tomorrow I’ll call him and ask what day works for him.  I’m pretty sure he’s flexible though and can come any day that works for you.  I just need to be sure you’re not going out of state that day.”

Dean considered that for a moment.  “Why don’t we do dinner out at a restaurant then?  For the first meeting.  Later on we can do dinner at home.”

“You think you’ll get called away?”  Cas asked.

“I’m working two murder cases right now.  If another body shows up, I have to go.  But I’ll do everything within my power to be there.”  Dean meant it, too.  “Please don’t be upset with me.  My job is to save lives, and I’m trying to stop more victims from popping up.”

“I wouldn’t be upset.  I understand what you do, and what your job means to you.  I would never begrudge you saving lives.  I’d be an asshole if I did.”  Cas kissed him softly. He knew Dean had doubts; he could see it on the man’s face. Dean was scared. He was afraid that one day, Cas would give up on him because he had lives to save. But he understood; there were evil people out there, and it was up to men and women like Dean, Cassie, and the rest of their team to stop monsters like that.  He could never begrudge Dean his work.

“Really, Dean, you’re making more of an effort than my last boyfriend.  I can handle your traveling.  I know you’re not doing it to escape me, but to do your job while you try to save people.  I’m small beans in the overall scheme of things.  I want you to know that I am not selfish enough to put myself before people that are truly in danger.”  He ran his fingers through Dean’s hair and scratched lightly at the back of his neck.  It had been ages since he’d felt this, and at first it had caught him off guard, but he knew he was falling in love.  How could he not?  Dean was everything he could have ever wanted.

“Yeah?  I just…it’s happened before.  I was working on a case a few years back, and I was working so much my boyfriend not only dumped me but started seeing someone else and had them move into his apartment while I was busy trying to stop a killer.  I came home, went to go see him…”  Dean sighed heavily and closed his eyes against the memory.  “He was a dick anyway.”

“Sounds like it.  I’m so sorry he was like that, but I would  _ never _ do that to you.  If I have a problem with something, trust me, I will open my mouth.  Am I going to worry about you?  Absolutely.  From the moment you’re gone until the moment I know you’re back safe and sound, but I trust you, and I know you’re helping those in need, so please don’t compare me to whatever idiots you dated in the past that were stupid enough to let you go.  I like to think I’m of a higher caliber than them, and infinitely more intelligent.”

Dean laughed softly before pressing a tender kiss to Cas’ throat.

“You are, baby.  You’re so much better than anyone I’ve dated before.  I’ll try not to worry so much, ok?  I just want you to know that if I somehow end up going like, 72 hours without calling or texting, I have a legitimate reason.”

“Mmm, I don’t like the idea of not hearing from you for three whole days.  You’ll just have to make it up to me when you get back,”  Cas teased. 

“Damn right, I’ll make it up to you.  Once you give me a few hours of sleep first, though!”

Cas laughed softly as he tucked his head under Dean’s chin.  Yes, he was falling in love, and it was the best kind of way to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some wifi so I thought, why not? So Cas has the alarm system working now. That's going to be important in the near future. Hope you all are buckled in, ride's about to get bumpy...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a spot of wifi, so I am taking advantage of it. Remember your seat belts... ;)

**Four Months Later~**

“Dean, another body. Not sure if it’s our perp though.  Feels like it is.  Something about it feels like it is.  He sure waited a long time if it’s him.”  Cassie was thrusting a file in his face before he even got to his desk.

“What makes you think so?” he asked as he sat down and opened the folder.

“I think it’s the fact that he’s a doctor.  It just…”  Cassie pursed her lips as she shook her head.  “It just feels like it’s our guy.”

“Look his records up.  See if he fits in with any of the others.  Especially the two that went to school together.”  He grabbed Cassie’s notepad off her desk and flipped to the list of victims.

“Alexander McKee and Darren Polson.”

“Oh my God…,” she gasped.  Quick as she could, she flipped her screen around to show him.

“Fuck, he went to school with them.  See who else was in that class, would you?  I need to talk to Bobby,” Dean said as he sorted through the victim files, pulling out the ones for McKee and Polson.  He stacked them on top of the new one, for one Raymond Dolgen, and took off running.  All heads turned to watch him go.

“Got a lead finally?”  Ed asked.

“Three of the vics graduated in the same class,”  he replied. 

“That’s a start. Better than what we’ve been looking through. Charlie and Ash have been sorting through the online records and paper trails for all of them. I’ll go tell them to focus on those three specifically.” Ed jotted down the names and left to go tell Charlie. Hopefully they’d have a break in the case soon.

“Bobby, Cassie and me, we got something on the SWM killings.”  Dean didn’t bother knocking, he just rushed into Bobby’s office and slapped the files down on the man’s desk.

“What kind of lead?”

“Three of the victims knew each other, they were all doctors, all attended the same university and graduated together.” 

Bobby slid his reading glasses on and pulled the first file over to read it. 

“This is the new one?  Raymond Dolgen?”

“Yep.”  Dean pulled one of the chairs closer and sat down to open the second file.  “And this one is Darren Polson.  The other one is Alexander McKee.  All three graduated from Northwestern University.  Cassie is working on getting the rest of the class list.  Someone else from that class could be on the killer’s hit list.  The other victims could have been a distraction, so we wouldn’t see the pattern.” 

Bobby was typing away on his computer, pulling up the rest of the victims.

“These the only doctors on that list?”

“No, sir, there’s one more, victim number eight, David Jacoby, in Layton, Utah,”  Dean replied.  He’d gone over these files so much he had the information memorized.

“But he went to school somewhere else?”

“Yeah.  Didn’t go to Northwestern and as far as I can tell, the man never even stepped foot in Chicago.”  Dean pursed his lips thoughtfully.  “But perhaps they knew one another through hospital relations.  Maybe conventions, lectures, something.”

“Have you considered that your unsub might be a doctor?”  Bobby cocked an eyebrow in question as he peered at Dean over his glasses.

“We have.  There is evidence that he could be, but some of the victims were killed so hastily that the pattern doesn’t quite fit.  If it wasn’t for the flower we’d have no clue they were related.”

Bobby slid his glasses off his nose.  “Have you considered the possibility that there are two unsubs?”

“Yes.  We have concluded that there is only one.”

“Dean!  Oh my God, you have to look at this!”  Cassie came racing into the room, papers clutched so tight between her fingers that her knuckles were almost white.

“What?”  He felt a jolt of fear when he looked up at her face.  There was genuine terror there.  She laid the papers on the desk and pointed at it.  A long list of names, as far as he could tell, but she was pointing to one name specifically.

“Oh shit!”  He jumped up so fast he sent the chair flying before racing out of the room.  Bobby grabbed the paper as he shoved his glasses back on his face.  Cassie had circled one specific name in red.

“Oh balls!”  He yelled as soon as he realized whose name it was.  “Go with him!”

Cassie nodded and raced after Dean.  Cas’ name was on that list. 

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


“Dean, you’re not going to like this.”  Charlie’s tone told him that whatever news she was about to drop on him, it was bad.

“Spill, Red.  I want to know.” 

He had the phone on speaker so Cassie could hear, too.  She was looking at the phone where it was sitting in its holder on the dash with a worried frown on her face.

“Well, I went over the victims’ information again, all nine of them.  And I found a pattern.”  She was explaining.  “And, well, I don’t know how we missed it, but the cities they lived in when they died?  The first letter of each city spells out a name, excluding the three victims that knew one another.”

“Give me the cities.”  Cassie flipped her notebook open.

“Ok, Christopher Garrett, Chicago, Illinois.”

“C, got it.”  Cassie wrote a C on her paper.

“Douglas White, Akron, Ohio.” 

Cassie wrote the A down.

“Next.”

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…”  Dean chanted.  He gripped the steering wheel tighter and stepped on the gas.  “Fuck!  The next victim was from Salem, Illinois, then Tacoma, Washington, then Idaho Falls, Idaho, then Eagle Rock, California, and then Layton, Utah.  It spells out Cas’ name!  Fuck!”  He screamed and hit the steering wheel so hard he knew he’d have a bruise later, but he didn’t care.

“Oh no…”  Cassie brought a hand up to her mouth, covering it in horror. 

“I have already contacted the local PD and they have officers with him right now.  He’s safe and waiting for you to get there,”  Charlie announced.  Dean only relaxed marginally. 

“The guy I saw snooping around his house, that was the unsub, I know it.  I fucking know it!” 

“Well, as soon as you’re back at the office, I’ll call up Becky and get her down here to do a sketch,”  Charlie said.

“Yeah, yeah.  I should have done that right when it happened.  Fuck!”  He was so mad at himself.

“How could you have possibly known?  You couldn’t,”  Charlie said.  “Just get your man and get him somewhere safe.”

“I plan on it.”  He whipped into the first of the university’s parking lots and raced for the building he knew Cas taught in.  Once or twice they’d met up for lunch, and a few times he had stopped by to bring the man food, so he knew exactly where he would be.

“We’ll be back soon.”  Dean hung the phone up the moment he had the car parked and shoved it in his pocket.  They both rushed inside, though Cassie had to follow his lead since she’d never been here before.

“His office is on the second floor.  Up this staircase,” he said, and they hurried up to the second floor.  They spotted the police lingering in the hall and had their badges out before the cops were even aware they were there.

“FBI.  Doctor Novak is inside?”  Dean asked.

“Yes.  We got a call that he was in danger and to get him out of class and into a secure location.  He wanted to come here.”  One cop, his nametag read Lapinsky, said.

“Good.  Stay on watch,”  he said as he ushered Cassie into the office and closed the door. 

“He’s in here.” He ushered her through the tiny waiting area and opened another door. Cas looked up from his desk with relief the moment he spotted Dean.  He was out of his seat and in his boyfriend’s arms a moment later.

“I knew I didn’t have to call you.  I knew you were already on your way.”

“Yeah, we have to talk.”  Dean hugged him tightly before releasing him and motioning towards his seat behind the desk.  “Sit down, cause I gotta hand the questioning over to Cassie here.  I’m compromised now.” 

“Compromised?  Am I really in danger?  They won’t tell me anything, just that I needed to stay in a secure location until the FBI arrived.  Please let me in on what the hell is going on!”  Cas cried as he returned to his seat.  He looked more frazzled and frightened than Dean had ever seen him before.

“It would appear that you knew at least three of the victims.  They were in your graduating class from Northwestern,”  Cassie explained.  Cas’ face paled.  Dean immediately knew his boyfriend knew something.

“Oh no…”  One shaky hand came up to cover his lips as he stared off across the room.  “This can’t be real.”

“The victims,”  Cassie prompted.  Cas dropped his hand and turned to look at her.

“Let me guess.  Alex McKee, Darren Polson, and Raymond Dolgen.”

“How did you know that?”  Dean demanded, momentarily forgetting this was his boyfriend he was questioning.  Until the man’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“They were my friends.  We-we did our residencies together.  It was us four, and Richard Roman.” 

Cassie was already on her phone, calling Charlie to tell her to look up the name.

“Sending pictures of one Richard Roman, graduate of Northwestern University, 2002.  Oh, he…”  Charlie clicked her tongue.  “I’m sending you his record.  He was accused and convicted for a series of murders in 2005.  Oh.  Oh…”

“What?”  Cassie asked. 

“Four men testified against him.  Three got wishy washy once they were up on the stand and their testimonies were not very compelling, but the fourth person?  It was his eyewitness testimony that put Roman away; however, he was sent to a maximum security mental hospital instead of prison, as he was deemed to be delusional.  Said he had voices in his head telling him to do bad things.  Claimed on the stand that he didn’t remember doing anything he was being accused of.  They released him last year on a technicality.  Oh my god…” 

Cassie’s phone was on speaker, so everyone in the room, Cas included heard everything.  Her phone and Dean’s both chimed with the pictures they received.

“Fuck!  That’s definitely the guy I saw in your backyard!”  Dean held his phone up so Cas could see.

“He’s going to kill me.  Because I couldn’t let it go in good conscience, and I testified, I’m going to die.”  Cas was trembling so hard, he was so terrified.  Dean jumped up and came around the desk to pull him into his arms.

“Like hell you’re dying.  We now know who the killer is, and basically where he is.  He’s going to slip up and when he does, we’ll catch him.” 

“I’m scared, Dean.  Dick is…he’s psychotic, not insane!  He’s a cold blooded murderer!  I caught him killing a man.  He was injecting something into his IV.  I watched from the doorway.  I’d come to tell him that he was needed in the O.R., and I thought that was his patient.  The patient flatlined.  I ran into the room, hit the call button for the nurse, and I tried to revive him.  I didn’t  _ know _ he was killing the man!  I stood there like a moron, and I let that poor man die!”  Cas sobbed so hard that his tears had soaked through Dean’s jacket and were now getting his shirt wet.  He didn’t care though.

“So you saw him kill a patient, is that right?  Is that what you testified in court?”  Cassie asked.

“Yes.  There were others; we thought Dick had killed them, but there wasn’t enough evidence.  One man, he was diabetic, died of insulin shock.  It was later suspected that he’d been injected with a massive dose of insulin and it sent his body into shock.  His heart stopped, and we were unable to revive him.  I had my suspicions, but I was afraid.  Dick…he’s a terrifying man!  I was there when he was convicted.  I needed to know that he was going away, that he couldn’t harm anyone else.  He looked me right in the eye as he was led out of the courtroom and I swear, his eyes were so empty, so dead.  It was the scariest thing I’d ever seen in my life!  He spoke to me.  Said ‘A debt owed.’  I didn’t know what that meant, but now…”  Cas clung to Dean tighter.

“He meant to pay us back for betraying him.”

“We need to know if you knew any of the other victims.”  Cassie flipped through her notepad until she came to the list of names.  “Christopher Garrett from Chicago, Illinois.

Cas sniffled and frowned.

“He killed Chris?”

“You knew him?”  Dean asked. 

“Well, yes.  After I left medical school, I was sort of lost for a while.  I met Chris at a café, and he invited me down to the gym.  He became my personal trainer, and we stayed good friends.  We were still friends…”  He shuddered as a choked sob escaped him.  “I didn’t know he was  _ dead _ !”

“It didn’t make national news,”  Dean explained.

“Douglas White.”  Cassie said.  Cas winced.

“What, did he kill all of my friends?  Why would he do that?  They didn’t do anything to him!”

“How did you know Douglas?”  Dean asked.

“We met online.  He’s been my financial advisor for the last 10 years.”

“How about Bernard Cronin?”  Cassie glanced at Dean whose expression was grim.  This was worse than either of them had suspected.

“Ex-boyfriend from my hometown.  Shit, I dated him like…25?  26 years ago?  Fuck.”

“And Trenton Moore?”  Cassie asked.  Cas, who was already pale, paled further.

“I can’t, I can’t, Dean, I can’t.”  His legs gave out, but Dean caught him and set him back down in his chair.

“Baby, you have to.  We need to know the connections.”  He was careful to keep his voice calm.

“He’s another ex.  For a year in 2009 I lived in Washington.  I met him at a club, and we dated for about a year.”  Cas scrubbed one shaky hand down his face. 

“How about Jeffrey Dallas?” 

“You’re kidding, right?  He’s my  _ brother’s _ ex, but we got to be really good friends.”

“How about Jarek Zielinski?”  Dean beat Cassie to the next one.  Cas squeezed his eyes shut.

“No, Jarek can’t be dead.”

“Babe, how did you know him?”  Dean urged as gently as possible.

“In 2010 I took a trip to California.  I decided to travel up and down the coast, and I met Jarek.  I can’t even recall how we met, but we hit it off.  I paid him to give me some surfing lessons, but as it turns out, I’m awful at balancing on a board.  I lived with him for a little while.  We were not sleeping together.  We were just friends.  He helped me out in more ways than I could explain.  I was so lost after I left medical school.  I didn’t know what direction to go in.  Jarek told me I should follow my heart, and to not let the traumas of my past dictate how I lived my future.  It was quite an enlightening time in my life.  I took his advice to heart, went back to Illinois, earned my degree in history, and began teaching.”  Cas leaned heavily against Dean.  This was just too much.

“I’m noticing that each victim is hitting a little closer to home.”  Charlie piped up from Cassie’s phone.  They’d forgotten she was still on the line.

“Last one, babe.  David Jacoby.”  Dean said.  Cas sat so quietly for so long that Dean was starting to think he’d gone into shock.  When he finally moved, it was to reach for the bottle of water sitting on his desk.  Dean grabbed it first and opened it for him.

“Thank you.”  His voice came out as a whisper.  He took a few sips and Dean took the bottle back to put the cap back on.

“Who was David to you?”  Cassie asked.

Cas sighed deeply.  “Ex-boyfriend.  Ex-fiancé, if you want to get technical.  We broke up when I caught him cheating.  It wasn’t the first time I caught him, but it was the last.  I was 19, he was 27 when we met.  I was on summer break and visiting some family that had moved to Utah, and David was at a party my cousin threw.  He was handsome, flirted hard with me, and asked me out.  I was there for the entire summer and I pretty much saw him every single day.  The day I left, he told me he couldn’t leave without me and wanted to marry me.  I was young and stupid, and I said yes.  From there we did the long distance thing, but he could never find the time to come visit me, and I was swamped with homework since I was pre-med, and then my cousin called me to tell me he’d caught David with another guy.  Called him out on it.  I flew out there, David denied it, we were ok for a little while.  Then it happened again.  I called him, confronted him, he said no, he wasn’t cheating.  Third time I wanted to surprise him.  One spring break I flew out there to stay with my aunt, and I went to his apartment.  A woman named Connie answered the door.  I didn’t even stick around.  I handed her the ring, told her who I was and that I didn’t need it anymore, and I turned around and went home.  He kept calling me for months after that.  I never took a single call.”

“It’s not your fault.  You know that, right?  This Roman guy, he’s a killer with a grudge, and nothing that happened was your fault at all.  You tried to stop a killer, and for a while you did, but people like this?  Unless they’re locked up for good, they don’t stop.  If you hadn’t stopped him back then at the hospital, he’d have kept killing.  Now we know who he is, and we can stop him from killing again,”  Dean explained.  “He’s not getting to you.”

“Dean, you’re potentially in danger too.  If this guy went and dug so far back into Cas’ past, then he knows you two are dating.  He’s going for maximum pain.  He wants Cas to suffer, so to kill you would bring the ultimate suffering.   _ Then _ he’d kill Cas, but only after he’s destroyed him emotionally.  Bobby says he’s moving you both to a safe house.  Tonight,”  Charlie said.

“I can take care of myself,”  Dean argued.

“Yeah, but do you want to put Cas at risk for the sake of your pride?”  Cassie asked.  Dean took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Yeah, ok.  But I’m not leaving Cas.”

“Do you think he knows you’re FBI?”  Cas asked him.

“I’d be surprised if he didn’t,”  Dean replied.

“I’m so sorry I dragged you into this mess.”  Cas’ eyes were beginning to water again, so Dean gently wiped the tears away.

“You didn’t drag me into anything.  I’m here because I love you, and I want to be with you.  You’re not the one at fault here.  We’re dealing with a twisted psychopath here, and we’re going to do everything possible to bring him in and put him away for good.”

“Dean’s right.  We’re not slackers; we’ll get the son of a bitch,”  Cassie said firmly.  Dean smiled at her, and she smiled right back.  They would do everything in their power to catch this guy.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


Ed and Victor arrived at the university to escort them, and Dean wanted to cry when he had to leave his car behind.  He reluctantly handed the keys over to Cassie, begging her to please be careful when she brought her back to work.  There wasn’t time to worry about his car though.  The moment they stepped outside, Dean was on high alert, one hand on his gun, the other gripping the back of Cas’ arm.  It wasn’t until they were in the car and several miles away from the university that he finally began to relax.  They headed back to FBI headquarters, as Dean knew Bobby was going to want to hear Cas’s side of things.

Cas was quiet on the ride back.  He didn’t respond when Ed or Victor tried to engage him in conversation, and he barely reacted when Dean pulled him close and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  Shock and grief were setting in, and guilt.  Dean knew he had his work cut out for him trying to make his boyfriend realize that none of this was his fault.  It would be hard though.  He knew that if their roles were reversed, he’d feel the same way, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to convince him otherwise.

Bobby was waiting when they returned, his usual grumpy expression replaced by one of concern.  Dean led Cas up to his office and closed the door behind him.

“Charlie has brought me up to speed.  I’ll need a formal statement later, but for the moment it’s more important that you realize this guy is killing people because he likes the high he’s getting with every life he takes.  It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with him.  He has a grudge, sure, but killing the people you know and bringing you pain is part of the thrill.  He could have just as easily picked some random joe off the street and gone after their family and friends.  The fact that you were the only person brave enough to stand up to him and interrupt his favorite pastime, that’s why he’s doing this.  It’s not your fault.  You were right to report him and get him put away.  These agents here, they’re good at what they do, and he’s not going to walk away from this.  This is pretty much a death sentence.  I intend to make sure he gets extradited back to a state with an active death penalty.  At this point he has killed in eight different states. It’s doubtful he’ll go to a mental hospital this time.”  Bobby spoke with determination, but with a hint of softness that seemed to reach through to Cas.

“I feel helpless.  If I’d realized sooner what he was doing back when he started killing people in the hospital.  You know, for a moment he tried to pin the murders on me, except I had an alibi each time, or was recorded on camera, so I was quickly dismissed as a suspect.  I feel like I should have known he would eventually come after me.  There are so many innocent people dead, and regardless of Dick’s mental state, it feels like it’s my fault.” 

Dean took his hand and held it firmly between both of his own.

“What’s the plan now?  Witness protection, but where?  And for how long?  I’ve been keeping an eye out since he showed up at Cas’ house, but he hasn’t come back.  Do we assume he has just been lingering?  Waiting for a moment when he could get Cas alone?”  He explained to Bobby about the new alarm system, the cameras he had set up and the new ones that were a part of Cas’ alerts.

“I haven’t gotten any notifications that anyone has come up to my door, except the UPS man.  I-I ordered a book set off Amazon,”  Cas said.

“Does your alarm system allow you to monitor the cameras when you’re not home?”  Bobby asked.

“Yes.  I have the same system with the same kinds of cameras.”  Dean replied.  Bobby picked up his phone and called Charlie to tell her to get up to his office.

“We’re going to monitor them.  It could be that he saw the system being installed and he’s smart enough to not come up to the porch.  He could be watching from a distance,” he explained when he hung up.

“Oh God…”  Cas shuddered.  Dean stood up, picked his chair up and moved it closer so he could wrap an arm around Cas’ shoulders once he sat back down.  Cas buried his face against Dean’s shoulder.  “I can’t…”

“Shhh.”  Dean squeezed his shoulder as he looked up at Bobby.

“Who’s checking cars registered to see where this guy was last seen?”

“Ash.  We pulled him in to help Charlie.  Unfortunately, after his release, Roman didn’t buy a car.  There is no record of train, plane, or bus tickets being purchased in his name.  His sister claims she hasn’t seen him.  Cole and Jo just left her house.  They have a car positioned outside her house, but they believed her when she said she disowned him after his arrest.  She is a devout Christian and believes he will burn for what he has done.  At least, that’s what she told them.” Bobby scratched at his beard thoughtfully. 

“Cas, is there anyone else he might target?  Anyone else that testified against him or played a part in his getting arrested and getting put away?”

Cas sniffled as he picked his head up.  He looked at Dean for a moment before turning to Bobby.

“Well, there was a nurse.  She was with me and saw Dick injecting the patient.  Her name is Missouri Mosely.  She was too scared to testify in court though.  I haven’t talked to her in years.”

Bobby was already on the phone, barking orders to whoever was available to find this Mosely woman and get her into custody.

“It’s better to be safe than to put her at risk,”  Dean explained softly.  Cas nodded and buried his face against Dean’s shoulder again.

“I want this nightmare to just be over already.”

“I know, baby.  It will be, soon.”

“I won’t be able to live with myself if he hurts you, Dean.  Promise me you won’t go after him on your own,”  Cas pleaded.  His fingers found their way to Dean’s jacket and grasped it tight.  “He’ll kill you, if he has the chance.  Please don’t go near him!”

“We have a big team here, sweetheart.  The best of the best.  My job right now is to keep you safe.  I won’t go after him on my own, but if he comes after us, I won’t hesitate to take him down.”  Dean couldn’t solidly promise he wouldn’t go after this Roman guy.  Frankly, if he got the chance, he’d like to kill Dick Roman himself.

“Hey, boss.  Hey Dean, Cas.”  Charlie looked particularly somber as she walked in the room.  It was completely out of character for her, but she’d heard Cas freaking out over the phone.  Even now her eyes, so full of concern and compassion, were trained on him.

“Charlie, I need you to tap into both Castiel’s house alarm system and Dean’s. There’s a chance Roman could be casing the houses from a distance, which could mean he’s in the area again.  Look for any suspicious activity, anything out of place.  While you’re at it, look for any cameras that are aimed at the street.  You know what he looks like.  If you spot him, let me know immediately,” Bobby instructed. She nodded and hurried to go tap in.

“How did he get out?  Was he deemed sane or something?”  Dean asked.  Bobby sighed and waved absently with one hand.

“Apparently some new evidence showed up on that last victim, Gerald Pertineau.  They’re trying to say the man was seizing  _ before _ Roman got in the room, and that the drug administered was an anti-seizure medication, and that due to a miscommunication with the patient’s medications, Roman injected him with the medication after he’d already been given it by a previous nurse.  This was somehow handled very quietly, no witnesses were called, and three days later he was released into the care of one…”  Bobby slipped his reading glasses on and started sorting through some papers on his desk.

“Lilith Morganstern.”  Cas said.  Bobby looked up, one eyebrow cocked.

“You know her?”

“Doctor Lilith Morganstern.  She was a resident when I was, but with another team.  See, Dick, Alex, Darren, Ray and me, we were intending to go into internal medicine.  Lilith was going into pediatrics.  You might want to look into hospitals she has worked at, and look for a pattern of SIDS.  She’s a psychopath too.  She made a few comments to me after Dick was arrested and, well, she scared me bad enough that I left medicine and went into teaching.”  Cas had chewed on his lower lip so much that it was red and there were spots of blood, but at least he looked like he was back with them.

“Is there proof that she killed babies?”  Dean asked.  Cas gave a small nod.

“There was a rash of infant deaths that began a month or so into her residency.  She was two years behind us.  There were maybe six newborn deaths during my first two years, and they were all in the NICU. Then Lilith arrived.  There were six deaths in the first three month.  It raised some alarms, and people got to talking.  Suddenly they stopped.  That lasted about six or seven months, and then babies, perfectly healthy babies started dying again, at the rate of about two to three a month.  They started watching the cameras real close and installed new ones after it became apparent the babies that were dying were the ones in the farthest corner, where the camera didn’t see.  After the new cameras went up, babies stopped dying.

“I’d heard rumors about Lilith, we all had, but Dick took a liking to her and they started dating.  They had gotten engaged right before his arrest.  I’d bet she stuck by him, waiting for his release, and probably somehow managed to manipulate the evidence, or come up with something false just to get him out of there.”

“Damn.” Dean pulled out his phone to text Cassie the information about Lilith, so she could look into it more.

“This case is giving me a migraine.”  Bobby took his glasses off and tossed them on his desk.  “I want this son of a bitch in custody within the next 48 hours.”

“I’m all for that,”  Dean agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how many of you are smacking yourselves in the head for missing that giant clue? Don't feel too bad, Dean is mad at himself too. Still enjoying it? I hope so!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was persuaded by a certain reader (You know who you are, lol) to step outside for some wifi and post this, so here is the next chapter. :)
> 
> Enjoy!

Dean was pacing.  He couldn’t help it.  They’d moved him and Cas to an out of state safe house, about 30 minutes over the Virginia border, in West Virginia.  It was a cabin, isolated but surrounded by open fields that were carefully maintained so that agents had a clear 360 degree view.  He peered out one window at the fields of grass.  They looked different at night.

“Should I have warned Meg?  She’s one of the only friends I’ve made since I moved here.  Is she in danger?”  Cas asked.

“I already talked to Jody, and she has a car monitoring Meg.  I was worried about her too,”  Dean replied.

“Thank you.  I-I don’t want anyone else to die because of me.”  Cas winced as his lip finally tore from all of his gnawing.  Dean was at his side a few seconds later, dabbing at it with a tissue.

“Don’t hurt yourself, babe.  I happen to love these lips very much.  I don’t want to see them bruised and swollen from pain, just from my kisses.”

Cas gave him a small smile.

“I’m sorry; I’m just so scared.  I never thought it would come to all this.”

“Well, it’s not your fault this guy was born with the cap not screwed all the way on.  That’s on him.  You did what you believed was the right thing at that time, and I completely agree, it was right.  I believe that you stopped him, but tampering with evidence to get him out?  That’s not on you either.  That’s a failure of the legal system and in no way reflects on you.  He should still be in that hospital.  I’ll even bet that whatever meds he was on while he was in there, he got off them the moment he got out.  Whatever urges push him to want to kill, they’re back full force.  Do you honestly think he’d stop at you and be finished?  No, baby.  If he’s not stopped he’ll keep killing until he is stopped.  Nothing will stop him short of a bullet to the head or locking him up.”  Dean went in search of a washcloth and found one in the bathroom.  He wet it and returned to the living room where Cas had turned on the news.  Carefully he wiped the blood away.  The cut was small, nothing too serious, but he still didn’t like seeing it there.

“Look, Bobby’s doing the press conference.”

Dean turned his attention away from his boyfriend and over to the television.

“Turn that up a bit, would you?”

Cas did, and they listened as Bobby talked about the killings, and who was behind them.  Pictures of Dick were blasted across the screen as he gave a description not only of Dick, but of the vehicle he was driving.

_“2016 Ford Expedition, white.  Plate number is INCT02.  Last seen in Dyer, Indiana, on May 22_ _nd_ , _2017\.  The truck belongs to victim Lilith Morganstern and therefore is considered stolen.  It is believed he is heading east, towards Virginia.  If you see this truck or the suspect, do not approach him.  Keep a safe distance and call 911 immediately.”_

“Victim?”  Cas looked at Dean with wide eyes.  “She’s dead?”

“I’m not surprised.  She was a liability.”  Dean replied.  He pulled his phone out and dialed Cassie.

“Hey, you guys doing ok?”  Were the first words out of her mouth the moment she picked up.

“Yeah.  Just don’t want to be here very long.  Say, that Lilith chick is dead?”  he asked.

“Yeah.  She quit her job in May of last year, right before he was released.  It looks like he enjoyed a few weeks at her home before she up and disappeared.  Neighbors said she told them she was going on a trip and would be gone for a while, though she told them she was going with her boyfriend.  They thought it was odd when, after she supposedly left, he was still coming around.  He’d be gone for a few weeks, then show back up.  His excuse to one lady was that Lilith had come into some money and was taking a yearlong cruise.  They thought it odd that he had stayed behind but he said he had a fear of the water and bowed out to stay behind and come check on the house.  Truth was, he had killed her about three weeks after he got out of the hospital.  Her body was found in a box, buried in the basement.  Cause of death was multiple stab wounds and strangulation.”

“Damn.  So what, he’s been paying the bills for her and using her house and car?”  He was mildly shocked by this entire thing.

“Pretty much.  They found some things in the house that were rather disturbing.  Vials of pentobarbital, needles, and lists.  Victims lists.  They don’t think Roman was using the drug though since it wasn’t found in any of his victims.  They’re fairly certain Lilith was using it.  There was a string of mysterious deaths at the hospital she was working at and they were beginning to suspect her right before she quit.  Charlie did some digging, and there were strange deaths that happened at every hospital she has worked at in the last 18 years. Right back to her interning years.  It started with infants and escalated from there,” she replied.

“Damn, she was as evil as he was,” he muttered.

“You have no idea.  There is compelling evidence that was found to convict, even if no evidence was found at the crime scenes.  He’s not walking away from this one,” she said confidently.

“Good.  I’m still trying to figure out how, if he admitted to killing the victims after a voice in his head told him to do it, did he get released after they ‘proved’ he didn’t do it.”  Dean even used air quotes for emphasis, belatedly realizing she couldn’t see him do it.

“Records show that he has had exemplary behavior after he was admitted, and his psychiatrist said he showed remarkable improvement after a medication change in 2005.  He says Roman stopped having the urge to kill and felt actual remorse for the deaths that occurred, and he retracted his statement saying he hadn’t killed anyone, and that the only death that happened under his watch was the last victim.  He said he was just trying to save the man, but that Dr. Novak misinterpreted his motives and accused him of murder,” she sighed. “The psychiatrist said he was a high functioning sociopath, not a psychopath.  He is now singing a different tune since we not so politely informed him that he was having the wool pulled over his eyes all those years and the death count currently stands at 11.”

“Wait, 11?  Morganstern makes 10.  Who’s the 11th?”  he asked.

“Apparently Morganstern was pregnant with Roman’s baby when he was arrested.  They had a daughter, Abbadon, or Abby for short.  The whole thing was very hush hush, and Roman’s name is not on the birth certificate.  No one knew she was his daughter, except him, Morganstern, and Abby.  In fact, she had gone out of her way to hide the fact that she even had a kid.  Neighbors thought it was Morganstern’s niece that was stopping by, not her daughter.  Her body was found near the lake, in Chicago,”  Cassie sighed.  “They think the body count is even higher.”

“Fuck,” he said. “Fuck.”

“My sentiments exactly,” she agreed.

“What?  What happened?”  Cas begged.  He wanted to know why Dean suddenly looked so upset.

“Hey, could you, uh, check in on Sam and Adam?  And while you’re at it, check Cas’ brothers and sisters too. And our parents.” Dean held up a finger to Cas, whose eyes got even wider, a silent plea to wait till he was off the phone.

“I’ll make some calls.  You might want to call your brother from the blocked phone though, give him a heads up.”

“Ok.  Call me back ASAP,” he told her.

“Will do.”

The call ended and Dean took a deep breath before turning in his seat to face Cas.

“Is my _family_ in danger now?   _Your_ family?  What is happening?”  Cas’ voice had raised, and he was nearly hysterical.

“Stop.  Calm down.  I’m taking precautionary measures.  Remember what I said back in Bobby’s office?  Better to be safe?  That’s what I’m doing here.  It seems that Lilith had a child by Roman, a girl named Abby.  The bastard killed Lilith and then he killed Abby.  If he’s not above killing his own family, I don’t trust him not to go after yours or even mine.  Cassie is on it though.  I know she’ll do everything possible to protect them.”

A thought suddenly rose up in his mind and he shot off a text to his partner.

**Dean:**  If he’s willing to kill his own family, then he’s willing to kill the people Cas, or even I care most about.  You fall in that category.  Get Nate and Danny out of town, and be careful.  Watch your back, you got me?

It was several minutes before she messaged him back.

**Cassie:**  I won’t deny I’m scared.  I called Nate.  He’s picking Danny up and driving out to our friends’ Paul and Jada’s house right now.  They live in D.C.  I told him to stay there until I tell him otherwise.  I’m not going home tonight either, I’m going to stay with my brother.  He’s P.D. and there’s enough guns in the house for a small army, but most of all, he has bars on all the windows and doors.  I’ll be safe there.

Dean let out a sigh of relief before grabbing the sat phone they’d been provided.  It wasn’t likely that Roman was tapping lines, but they weren’t taking any chances.  He dialed Sam first.

“Hello?”  His brother answered the unknown number cautiously.

“Sammy, I am going to tell you something, and you are going to listen and do exactly as I say, got it?”  Dean said.

“Dean?  Is this an unmarked number?  Are you ok?  This has to do with that press conference Bobby just gave, doesn’t it?  What do you need me to do?”

“I want you to take Jess and the kids and get the hell out of state.  Go somewhere you normally wouldn’t go.  Stay with a friend you haven’t seen in 1o years, or go hole up in a hotel.  Can you call Mom?  Tell her the same thing.  I’ll call Dad and Adam.”  Dean ran a hand through his hair as he tried to steady his nerves.  He knew the likelihood of Dick Roman going after his family were slim, and his family, even his sisters-in-law and mother were all armed at all times, but he still worried.

“Yeah, ok.  Are you safe?  Where’s Cas?”

“I’ll explain everything later but I’m safe, and so is Cas.  I have to go though, we need to call his family real quick.”

“Ok.  I’m calling Mom now.”  Sam hung up, and Dean made a quick call to his dad and then to Adam.  Once he was certain his family was safe, he handed the phone to Cas.

“Call Gabe, he’s the closest, then call your folks and tell them to get to somewhere safe.”

Cas nodded and quickly dialed his brother.  He gave a very brief synopsis, but it was enough to scare the man.  Gabe promised to call their other siblings, including Naomi, which left Cas to call his parents.  That took longer as his mother was worried sick about him.  She’d begun blowing his phone up the moment she saw the press conference.  His family knew exactly who Dick Roman was, and what he had done, and they had already put one and one together.  By the time they hung up, his mother was sobbing hysterically, and Cas’ last nerve was frazzled.

“They’re heading somewhere safe?”  Dean asked him.  Cas nodded.

“They’re still going to be in town, but they’re walking over to my aunt’s house.  Dad’s stepsister.  She has a different last name and most likely Dick wouldn’t figure out that she’s related to us.  Plus she likes guns, so she has a plethora of them.”

“Good.  As long as everyone is safe.”  Dean felt marginally calmer.  He had his computer and was chatting with Charlie through an inter office chat program.  There was a nearby cell tower, and the cabin had internet for exactly this reason.  She was keeping him up to date on anything new that was found.

“They got a lead,” he murmured a little while later.  Cas had stripped down to his dress pants and undershirt and was flipping through the television channels looking for something to watch when Dean spoke up.  He set the remote down and waited.

“Truck was found abandoned outside of Norfolk, but just inside city limits, someone spotted him in a Cadillac, gold, ’77, heading east.  It’s believed he’s on his way back to White Oak.  That was about 40 minutes ago.  He’ll be back in that area probably in about two hours or so.”

Cas licked his lips, grimacing at how his lower lip stung.

“Well, they’ll catch him, right?  What if they don’t catch him?”

“He’d not as slick as he thinks.  At some point he’ll slip up, and we’ll catch him.”  Dean set the computer on the coffee table and stood up.  “I’m going to get some water, you want a glass?”

“Please.”

Dean went to the kitchen and poured two glasses.  A knock at the door told him Victor was back with food.  He handed off Cas’ glass to him and headed for the door.  A careful check told him it was indeed his friend.  He let the man in.

“Where’s Ed?” he asked.

“I fed his chunky ass already.  He’s out in the car watching the perimeter.”  Victor handed a bag of food to Cas and a carrier with drinks to Dean.  “Ever think you’d be on the receiving end of witness protection?”

“Not in this lifetime, no, and I don’t plan to stay in it.  I want this bastard caught.  Cas and me, we have our lives to get back to.”  Dean passed one of the cups of sweet tea to his boyfriend, and after setting his glass of water down took a sip of his own tea.  Cas’ homemade tea was better, but this was decent enough.

“Well, he was spotted heading east, towards White Oak, but it looks like he already switched cars.  We have a missing persons pop up 10 minutes ago.  Hailey Ledbetter, age 21, blonde hair, blue eyes, driving a Nissan Altima, dark gray, ’07  model.  He went for the most nondescript car he could find.  Hailey was heading in to work to cover a shift for a sick coworker, and she was supposed to start her shift at McDonald’s 30 minutes ago.  Apparently she’s never late for work.  Another employee says he saw her car in the parking lot as he was heading in for his shift, and she was talking to a dark haired man.  He didn’t think anything of it though and went inside.  When she still hadn’t come in and her shift had started, he said something to her manager who called her house, and her mother said she had gone in to work.  That set off some alarm bells.  The manager went outside and found Hailey’s phone shattered and her hat was tossed into the bushes.  She says she thinks the hat was Hailey’s way of saying she’s in trouble.”

“Oh, not another innocent person.”  Cas squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to wish it all away.  He wanted to go back to a time when Dick was still locked up and all of his friends and anyone else Dick has killed were still alive and well.

“APB is out, I’m sure.  Have there been no sightings?”  Dean asked.

“Yes, right now, actually.”  Victor’s phone dinged with an update.  “Got a sighting a hundred and fifty miles west of White Oak.  Still headed east.  One person spotted in the car.”  He frowned.

“What does that mean?  Did he kill her already?”  Cas cried.

“It doesn’t mean anything.  He really wouldn’t have had the time to kill her.  Most likely she’s unconscious in the trunk or the back seat.  Don’t jump to conclusions just yet,”  Dean warned.  Cas nodded.  He needed to believe that young girl was still alive.

“Eat your dinner.  I hear anything, trust me, I’ll be sitting right there in the kitchen and you’ll be the second to know, right after me.”  Victor headed for the kitchen with his own bag of food while Dean joined Cas.

“Eat up, sweetheart.”  He ran his fingers through Cas’ hair before settling his hand on the back of the man’s neck, and it was comforting.  Cas leaned against him as he opened the bag of food.

“I think…”  He plucked a sad looking cheeseburger out of the bag.  “I need to go away for a little while, when we get home.”

“Go away?  Where?”  Dean felt a sliver of panic punch into his gut.  Why would Cas need to leave?

“I’m going to try and get some help.  I-I can’t do this by myself.  I need to see someone.  I know you are saying it’s not my fault, but it feels like it is.  It _feels_ like I’m responsible for the deaths of 11 people.  It _feels_ like I’ve endangered my friends and family, _your_ friends and family, and even that of people I don’t know.  Logically I know he is a psychopath and this is fun for him, but my heart won’t let me think that.”  He shivered and leaned fully into Dean.  “Will you still want me after that?”

“Honey, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m in love with you.  I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll support you in every way I possibly can.  I’ll drive you to wherever you feel is best to get the help you need, and if you want, I’ll come visit you as much as I can.  As it is, they’re not going to let me get back to work until I pass a full psych eval.  So I’ll have a couple of weeks off.  Guess I’ll be working on what I want to add to my gardens next spring.”  Dean kissed him softly.  “I’m not going to abandon you because of trauma.  I’ll only leave if you want me to.”

“No, no, I love you, please don’t leave me.”  Cas broke down, dropping his bag of food and clinging to Dean as the tears began to fall again.  Dean set his own bag aside and with some maneuvering, managed to bend forward enough to set his drink on the table next to Cas’.  He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held him tight.

“We’re going to get through this, ok?”

Cas managed a nod.

“Ok.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Evening faded into night and after tucking a physically and emotionally exhausted Cas into bed, Dean went back to pacing.  He kept checking out the windows.  Each time he passed the front of the cabin and peered out, Ed waved at him.  He waved back every time.

“Dean, you’re wearing holes in the floor.  Sit your ass down,”  Victor said after an hour of watching him.

“I feel useless.  I can’t just stand by and do nothing,”  Dean complained.

“I know man, but you’re starting to put me on edge.  Look, grab your laptop and talk to Charlie, see if she has any news that isn’t coming through on the radio yet.”

Dean went back to the living room to get the computer.  When he came back he sat down adjacent to his friend so Victor could see the screen too.  He pulled up the messenger screen.

**Dean:**  Any news?

Charlie was quick to respond.

**Charlie:**  They think he’s in White Oak.  Bobby sent Harry in to Cas’ house.  Has him walking around like Cas would if it were him.  Had Cole go and sit in your house, in your bedroom, by the window to make it look like you’re reading a book.

**Dean:**  Cole looks nothing like me.

**Charlie:**  It was the best we could do on short notice.  Plus your curtains are drawn.  If he peeks up at the window all he’ll see is someone sitting in the chair that’s roughly about your shape.  It was harder with Harry, he’s so damn skinny.

**Dean:**  Blinds are all drawn in Cas’ house?  So he can’t peek in?

**Charlie:**  Yep, and his car is parked in his driveway, so it looks like he came home.  Yours is in your garage, exactly the way you park yours every night.

**Charlie:**  Hold up, I’m monitoring the cameras still on the houses and someone is across the street.  Too much in the shadows for me to tell if it’s our unsub or not.

**Charlie:**  I have Sol investigating.

Dean tapped his fingers anxiously against the Formica surface as they waited.  Victor’s phone chirped with a series of notifications and he pulled it out to read them.

“They found Hailey.  Alive.  She was stabbed.  They’re airlifting her to the nearest hospital.  She was in the trunk of the car, which they located 12 miles southwest of White Oak.”

“Shit, that’s probably him.  Sol can’t get him by herself,”  Dean worried.

“You apparently don’t know Sol,”  Victor said with a chuckle.

 Sol was newer to the team, only having been with them around five years, but she was a force to be reckoned with.  She was damn good at her job and Dean admired her.

“Nah, she’s tough as nails, I know that much, but this guy has no qualms about killing anyone.  I don’t want her to underestimate this guy.  If he’s armed, he could just shoot her.  Tell me they’re all wearing vests.”

“Hell yes, it’s standard to start with, but no one’s taking risks with this guy,”  Victor replied.

**Charlie:**  Ok, Sol says it’s him, but he disappeared between some houses on the north end of the street and she lost him.  She called in Gad, Rafe, and Bart.  Trust me, he’s not getting away.

**Dean:**  Make sure they know to send someone to make sure he didn’t double back.

**Charlie:**  Bobby already told them.

Dean sat back in his chair to wait.  It was just a matter of time now.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

**Dick’s POV~**

 

_Did they really think he was so stupid that he wouldn’t know that was Castiel in the house?  Of course the son of a bitch was probably off somewhere in protective custody, but that was fine.  He’d never killed a cop before, and he’d definitely never killed an FBI agent.  This would be one to add to his list.  It might not be Castiel that he could get his hands on, but killing someone in Castiel’s pretty little house was still a win for him.  The bastard would never be able to step foot in his house again without knowing a man was murdered there, and he’d forever carry the knowledge that it was all his fault._

_If he’d just minded his own business back when they were in their residency, he wouldn’t have had to come after the man.  And learning that Lilith was the reason behind why he’d left his residency and decided to become a teacher was priceless.  One good thing had come from getting caught, at least.  Castiel hadn’t gotten to practice medicine either._

_There were cameras.  Those had to be disabled, and he knew exactly where they were connected.  As stealthily as possible, he snuck up to the house and disconnected the internet, then the cameras themselves.  The alarm couldn’t be disconnected, but he could still make sure they didn’t see him coming._

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Harry’s earpiece chirped softly, and he tapped it to accept the call.

“Talk to me.”

“He’s nosing around the side of the house.  Disconnected the fake internet and the fake camera line, so he thinks we won’t see him coming,”  Charlie said.  Harry glanced towards the front door.  It was currently locked tight.  So was the back door.

“Tell me where.”  He drew his gun and held it down at his side as he moved quickly from the kitchen to the living room.  “Is he armed?  Can you tell?”

“West side of the house, third window from the front.  Wait, scratch that, he’s heading for the back of the house.”

He turned around and moved back through the house, stopping between Cas’ office and the laundry room.

“Ok, where is he?” he asked softly.

“He’s in the backyard, but the camera over the back door doesn’t angle the right way.  Let me check Dean’s cameras.”

He could hear her typing away, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

“Ok, I see him.  Basement window, right side of deck.  Can’t really see what he’s doing from this angle but guess what?  Cas’ other neighbor Rufus agreed to let us install two cameras.  I’m tapping into those now.”

He took a steadying breath as he waited.

“Ok, well, he was examining a window but he looks pretty pissed because there’s a new lock on it, and it has the alarm on it.  He’s creeping around the deck now, staying just out of camera range, or so he thinks.  I don’t think he realizes Dean is paranoid and has cameras attached to the tree and the sides of the house.  With this going on, he angled a few towards Cas’ yard, just to be on the safe side.  I’m glad he did,” she said.

Through the glass panels on the back door, and the sheer curtain that covered them, he thought he saw movement.

“I see him.  Do you see a weapon?”

“He has a knife.  That’s all I can see.  It’s dark out,” she replied.  He took another steadying breath and tiptoed towards the door, his gun raised towards the ceiling.  Every nerve in his body was wound tight.  He’d only gone up against one other unsub, and that had been in Miami.  The guy had been high as a kite and armed with an AK-47.  He’d holed himself up on the top floor of a hotel where he was keeping his girlfriend hostage.  That had been the scariest moment of Harry’s life.  Thank God Dean had been with him, and Cassie and Ed.  Ed had proved to be a true badass, but in the end it was Dean that had taken the guy down with a headshot.  Harry had never actually killed anyone before.  He knew he could, if push came to shove though.  This was the shove kind of moment.

“He’s moving.  Son of a…”

“What?”  He hissed.

“He just hopped the fence into Dean’s yard and he’s climbing the oak tree.  Oh shit, I don’t think the second floor windows are connected to the alarm!”  She was typing again.  “I’m warning Cole.”

"Cole went outside to track him, he's not upstairs anymore."

"Why?  That's stupid!"  She hissed angrily.  He ignored her tiny rant and moved silently towards the back staircase and peered up them.

“What is he doing?”

“He’s quite agile for a man nearing 40,” she commented.  He rolled his eyes.

“Good for him.  What is he _doing_?”

“He just dropped down onto Cas’ roof.  He’s looking for a way in.  Go let Sol and the others in while he’s at the back of the house.  Open the front door.  Remember to disarm the alarm first.”

He hurried through to the front door and entered the code.  The alarm switched off and he opened it to find half his team standing there.  Rafe swept into the room first followed by Sol and Bart.  Gad, always silent and watchful, was the last to enter.  As he was about to shut the door, Cole slipped in too.

“Where?”  Rafe whispered.

“Second floor.  He hopped onto the roof from the tree next door.  He’s looking for a way in.”

Sol motioned to Cole and Bart to stay by the bottom of the stairs.  Harry, Rafe, and Gad followed her up to the second floor, where they split into teams of two.  He followed Sol to the south end of the house while Rafe and Gad went north towards the front.  She motioned towards the master bedroom and he pushed the open door in a bit, peering in towards the window.

“Where is he now, Charlie?”  he whispered.

“Entering the house now. Window over the deck roof.”  She whispered back.  Harry motioned towards the window in the master bedroom.  Sol nodded and raised her gun.  They heard the slight scrape as the window slid up.  Glancing down the hall, Harry spotted Gad and motioned to the master bedroom.  Gad caught Rafe’s attention and then both men were coming down the hall, guns drawn and ready.  Harry turned his attention back to the room.  The unsub was light on his feet and made no sound as he slipped into the room.  They could hear him moving things around.  Sol drew in a breath and nodded.  Harry pushed off the wall the moment she rushed into the room.

“Freeze!”

Harry hit the light switch and the unsub froze, his dark eyes wide with surprise for only a moment before they narrowed.  He crouched, as if decided on whether to rush them or dart back out the window.

“Uh uh, I wouldn’t do that.  There are more agents outside,” she warned.

That seemed to decide it for him.  He rushed at her, ducking below the gun as she aimed and slamming into her chest with his full weight.  Sol was only 5’6”, but she was solid and rather than fall, she stumbled back against the closet door.  She hadn’t dropped her gun though, and she used the butt of it to smack him in the head.  Harry was already in motion, grabbing the guy and tackling him to the floor.  Gad flew into the room, and it wasn’t until he knelt on the guy’s back that they realized he had a bloody knife in his hand.

“Sol, you ok?”  Harry asked as he kicked the knife away and grabbed the guy’s wrists so Gad could cuff him.

“He sliced my brand new blouse!” she complained.

“But are _you ok_?”  Rafe asked as he came in to help Gad lift the cursing, spitting unsub up from the floor.

“I’m fine.  I mean, I got cut-”

“Good!  I hope I hit vital organs!”  Dick spat.  Gad brought a knee up to connect firmly with the man’s belly, and he immediately fell silent.

“Let me see.”  Bart had her turn so he could see the wound.  “Yeah, you got stabbed, just below your vest.  You don’t feel that?”

“Oh, I feel it.”  She grimaced as he checked it.

“You need a hospital.”

“Charlie, call an ambulance,”  Harry said.

“Already did.”

“Someone call Winchester, tell him we got the guy,”  Cole said as he walked in with a towel and after he helped Sol remove her vest, lifted up her shirt enough to press the towel against it.  Blood was streaming down her leg.

“Let’s do this downstairs, off his pretty cream carpet.  I don’t want to stain it,” she said, grimacing as she held the towel tight to her side and started for the door.

“I already messaged Dean.  He’s on his way now,”  Charlie announced.

“Good.  Call in the bomb dogs to check around Dean’s house.  It’s a little odd that he didn’t even bother going after Dean when he was all about causing Castiel as much pain as possible,”  Harry told her.

“On it.  Good call.”  Charlie was typing away again.

“Alright, we’ll wait downstairs for forensics,” he told her.

“Good job, guys.  We got another one!”  She was way too cheerful for this line of work.

“I’m just glad this is over,”  Harry sighed.  Now came the crappy part. Paperwork.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Dean walked along the fence line, looking up into the branches overhead.  Roman had actually climbed the tree to get into Cas’ house?  He was more than a little unnerved by that.

“Whatcha looking at?”

He turned to see Ed standing beside him.

“He used my tree to get into Cas’ house.  I thought I kept the branches trimmed back enough.  I guess not.”

Ed looked up into the branches, studying them.

“It’s just that one.  It brushes the edge of the porch roof.  That’s the one I’d trim back, if it worries you that much.”  He pointed out the branch in question.

“Yeah.  I’ll be doing that real soon.  We don’t need a thief figuring that out.”  Dean turned to watch as forensics went in and out of the house.  Cas was over at Dean’s house, no doubt sitting in his chair in his bedroom, staring out the window.  He turned and looked up, but to his surprise the window was empty.

“Cas at your place?”  Ed asked.

“Yeah.  He’s…not doing so well.  He blames himself for all of this.”

“It’s not his fault.  I know, it’s not enough for us to tell him that, but it’s the truth.  Dealing with survivor’s guilt is rough.”  Ed shook his head sympathetically.

“Is that what this is?”  Dean wondered.

“I’d say so.  He survived when none of his friends did. He blames himself.  Even though there’s nothing at all he could have done,”  Ed replied.

“He’s a doctor.  He probably knows more about this than me.  I took several psych courses in college, but I’m used to studying how an unsub thinks and moves, not quite so much the victims.”  Right then it dawned on Dean that Cas was indeed a victim.  It sent chills down his spine.

“I am going home and going to bed.  I have to write this report tomorrow, and I need sleep before I can do that.  You guys need anything before I go?”  Ed asked.

“Nah, man, thanks for everything.  Get your man out of here, he looks exhausted.”  Dean nodded towards Harry, who was just walking down the back stairs.  He looked ready to drop.  Ed headed straight for him, already fussing over him and getting shooed away in annoyance.  It brought a smile to Dean’s face seeing them like that.  He hoped that 15 years from now he and Cas would be as in love as those two still were, even if Harry looked annoyed by his husband’s fussing.  Dean knew better.

He gave a wave to those still there and headed home.  When he opened the front door he saw Cas sitting on the couch.  He had snagged a pair of Dean’s sweatpants and his knees were drawn up to his chest.  His arms were wrapped around his legs making him look so small and fragile.

“I have good news.”

Cas looked up expectantly.

“The girl whose car got jacked?  She’s alive and in stable condition.  And Sol is going to be ok.  She’s stubborn anyway.  No way was she going down without a fight.”

Cas rested his lips against one knee and stared at the coffee table.

“Babe.”  Dean came to sit beside him and rubbed his arm gently.

“He killed the woman he claimed to love.  He killed _his own child_.  What kind of person does that?”  Cas asked, his voice so very quiet.

“A monster.  Cassie let me know that they found letters he had written.  In his mind, he was never going to get caught.  He fully intended to kill you and then disappear into the wind.  From there, he had a long list of people he wanted to kill.  Like specific people.  Missouri was on that list, along with her family, but there were so many names on there, including celebrities, politicians, and staff at the psychiatric hospital.  I guess these were written almost like diary entries.  He just wanted to kill.  It’s a thrill for him.”

Cas moved slowly, dropping his feet to the floor and twisting to face Dean so he could wrap his arms around his chest.

“I need to let my family know that it’s safe to go home now.”

“Already took care of it.  Your mother is a hard one to get off the phone.”  Dean joked.  Cas huffed in amusement.

“She likes you.  You told her I’m safe?”

“Of course I did.  She’s relieved.  She’s also coming in tomorrow.  There was nothing I could do or say to stop her,”  Dean said.

“I am not surprised.  She needs to see for herself that I’m alright.  It’s ok though; I sort of need her.”

“Is there anything I can get you, baby?  Some water?  Maybe something to help you sleep?”  Dean stroked his fingers through Cas’ hair.  He knew how much his boyfriend loved it.

“Water would be good.  What do you have to help with sleep?  I’m afraid I’ll have another nightmare.”  In the little time he’d had to sleep at the cabin, he’d been awoken three times with vivid nightmares.

“I have melatonin, 10 mg.  Two of those should knock you out for like eight hours.”

“Ok,”  Cas conceded.  He let Dean lead him up to the bedroom and waited patiently for him to get the pills and water out of the bathroom.

“These are rapid dissolve, so they’ll kick in faster,”  Dean explained.  He handed the pills over, along with the water.  Cas popped the pills in his mouth, feeling them already beginning to dissolve before he’d even drank the water.  Once he was finished Dean took the glass to set on the nightstand and then tucked him in.

“I’m not fragile,” he said, though there was no heat behind his words.

“I know that.  I’m doing it because I care.”  Dean crouched down so that he was eye level with him.  “I love you, ok?  I want to take care of you.”

“I know.  I’m sorry I’m crabby.”  Cas pulled a hand out from under the covers to gently caress Dean’s cheek.

“You’re not being crabby.  Get some sleep.”

Dean kissed him softly before getting up to start getting ready for bed.  By the time he had returned from relieving himself and brushing his teeth, Cas was sound asleep, softly snoring from his spot under the covers.  Just as he went to lay down his phone pinged with a notification that someone was on his porch.  He grabbed it to check and saw Bobby standing there.

Careful to close the bedroom door before he went downstairs, he went to see what his boss needed.  Disarming the alarm, he opened the door.

“Hey, everything ok?”

“Yeah.  I just wanted to check on you and Cas.  How’s he doing?  Victor said he had another meltdown earlier.  I was going to suggest one of our grief counselors might be able to help,”  Bobby said.

“He, uh, wants to check himself into the hospital for a few days.  I’m going to take him when he’s ready.”

“That might be a good thing for him.  None of this is his fault, but some therapy and talking it out might help.”  Bobby scratched at his beard absently for a moment before speaking again.

“I think maybe, after you pass your psych eval, you should grab your man and go away for a while.  Go find a nice beach, relax for a while, decompress.  Do what you can to get him to forget about this.”

Dean liked the idea of that.

“I have to request time off for that.”

“Consider it already approved.”  Bobby patted his arm.  “I’m heading home.  I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.  No rush.”

Dean smiled.  Bobby was gruff but he cared.

“Drive safe,” he called after him.

With the door closed and locked, and the alarm set once again, he climbed the stairs and made his way back to the bedroom.  Cas was still peacefully asleep.  He wasn’t a particularly religious man, but he sent up a silent prayer that the man he had fallen so deeply in love with would have a dreamless sleep.  He deserved it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost to the end. I hope you're still enjoying this. Next chapter will be the epilogue.


	10. EPILOGUE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter...
> 
> Collage at beginning of this chapter

[ ](https://www.pizap.com/image/707476471pizapw1498353528.jpg)

 

_**One Year Later~** _

 

“How’s Cas doing?”  Sam asked.  Dean looked up from flipping burgers on the grill to see if the man was outside.  He wasn’t.

“Doing a lot better.  House just sold.  He couldn’t go back in there after that.  Not once he heard Roman had come in through his bedroom window.  He spent three weeks with me after he came home from the hospital and one day, while he was at work, I went and emptied his closets, brought everything over and did a fuck ton of rearranging to make room in the second closet in our room to fit all his stuff.  He came home, saw what I’d done, and I swear, the relief in his eyes was worth it all.  He didn’t want to leave, and I didn’t want him to go.  It’s been great ever since.”

Sam looked over at the new fence between his brother’s house and Cas’ old house.

“I see you put in a new fence.  Why such a tall one?  Are you trying to block out your new neighbors?”

Dean flipped the last of the burgers and started turning the pieces of chicken.

“Yes.  Cas is…”  He looked at the house. Still no sign of the man.  “I tell you guys to call before you show up cause Cas is a nudist.  That includes when he’s outside gardening.  He doesn’t like clothing and if he’s home, he’s rarely ever wearing any.”

It took a moment to process what his brother was saying.  But it made sense.  Whenever he saw Cas out of his usual work attire, the man was barely dressed.  Loose fitting tee shirts or shorts.  In winter he even dressed lightly.

Sam looked thoughtful for a few moments, then said, “Oh.  I just thought it was cause you guys were having tons of sex all over the house.”

Dean laughed as he closed the grill lid and hung the tongs on the handle.

“Well, that too, but mostly I don’t want anyone but me seeing him naked.  Unless we go somewhere that allows the freedom.  It was only just passed here two years ago, and it’s limited outside of your own property, so he wants to take a vacation to a beach somewhere where he can swim naked in the ocean and lounge around in the sun.  I’m still trying to open myself up to the idea.”

“Feeling a little possessive there?” his brother teased.  Dean shrugged.

“Yeah, well, I love him, and he’s gorgeous.  Every time we go out someone flirts with him.  If they saw him naked, they might try to steal him.”  He joked.  Sam shook his head, laughing hard as he sat down at the new patio table his brother and Cas had invested in.

“Yeah, ok.”

“You telling your brother how you don’t want people seeing me naked?”  Cas came out with plates and a package of buns.  There was a fond smile on his face.

“Babe, you’re just so gorgeous.  I’ll have to bring my weapon and warn people off, it  _ could _ get ugly,”  Dean teased.  Cas rolled his eyes and set everything down on the table.

“Oh, whatever.  He’s just joking, Sam.  We’re going to the beach for our vacation in two weeks when school lets out for the summer.  I can’t wait.”

Dean was grinning and Sam realized his brother had just been royally bullshitting him.

“Jerk.”  He laughed.  Dean’s grin spread wider.

“Gotta mess with you, bitch.”

“So seriously?  You’re…a nudist?”  Sam asked.

“Yes.  It’s incredibly freeing not being restricted by clothing.  The only time it’s bothersome is when the mosquitoes are out in full force and in the dead of winter.  Ask Dean though.  When it gets really cold out, I’ll bundle up in more clothing than him.”

“It’s true.  I like to keep the house cool, even in the winter and the moment he gets cold he’s putting on the flannel pajama pants, the thermal shirts, a robe, socks, and he’ll drag this thick blanket around the house with him too, draping it over his shoulders.  I’ll be walking around in my boxers and a tee shirt, and he’ll look like he’s ready to leave on a six month excursion to Antarctica.”  Dean pinched his boyfriend’s butt, laughing when his hand got slapped away.  Cas was smiling wide as he joined them at the table.

“It doesn’t get nearly as cold here as Chicago, thank god.  I about froze there.”

“I agree, I went there in February one year and it was awful.”

“Where’s Jess?”  Dean asked when he realized his sister-in-law had not come outside.  This was an adults only barbecue.  Their mother was hoarding all of her grandchildren, so Dean had invited both of his brothers and their wives over.  Adam, to his knowledge, had not yet arrived.

“She’s cooking.  I helped her get stuff into the oven, but now she’s making brownies,”  Cas replied.

“What’s taking Adam so long?”  Dean wondered.

“Probably couldn’t tear Alyssa away from the baby,”  Sam said, chuckling lightly. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right,”  Dean agreed. 

“So, did your entire family move out here after Dean joined the FBI?”  Cas asked.

“I came first with Jess, then Mom did.  Dad’s still back in Lawrence.  Adam had a job offer pop up here so after a long talk with Alyssa, they decided to move out here.  I don’t think she would have agreed to it if there wasn’t already family here.  I don’t know if you noticed when you’re around her, but she’s an introvert.  Making friends is very difficult for her,” Sam replied.

“Oh, I know she is.  I may come off as a social butterfly, but I am not.  Dean is much more gregarious than I am.  Alyssa and I get together on occasion for lunch, and we have taken Kenzie to the park together quite a few times.  She and I have become good friends.  It’s easier to sit and talk with just one person than it is to try and socialize with an entire group.  I’ve been at the university going on two years now, and I have one close friend.  The rest are more like acquaintances.” Cas reached across the table to take Dean’s hand. 

“Thankfully he has introduced me to many wonderful people, and I feel now as though I’ve made some new friends.”

“He loves hanging out with Ed and Harry.  We all go play pool at least once a month, but they all seem to have this obsession with flea markets.  Cas comes home with so much stuff all the time.  I don’t mind though.  Most of it is wicked cool.”  Dean looked over at Cas, who was nodding enthusiastically.

“He’s not complaining.  I found him an original Star Wars poster, some cassettes of his favorite music and a fantastic little table top garden where we grow herbs.  It’s right in the kitchen window so he can just snip the fresh herbs and add them into his cooking.” 

“Oh, I love that thing.  You should check it out when you go in the kitchen.  That thing is awesome.  I grow 12 different herbs in it.”  Dean motioned towards the grill.  “I added some parsley and oregano to the homemade dressing I made for the chicken.”

“Sweet.  I wonder if they have more?  What flea market did you get it at?  Jess would love something like that,”  Sam asked.

“Don’t worry, I already got her one for Christmas.”  Cas winked, which got them all laughing.

“Hey.”  Jess came out the back door with Adam and Alyssa in tow.

“Hey!”  Dean got up to hug everyone, and Cas did the same.  Alyssa snagged the fourth chair beside Cas while Jess sat down in her favorite spot, on Dean’s swing.  Adam pulled an extra chair from the corner over so he could sit next to his wife.

“What are you all talking about?” he asked.

“Nothing special. Small talk, really.”  Dean shrugged.

Over by the pond, the ducks started quacking. 

“Still coming back, I see.”  Alyssa smiled as she watched Hermione splash in the water.  “Is that a different pond?  It looks bigger.”

“Yes it is.  I talked Dean into upgrading, so there was more room for the fish and ducks.  We put that one in last month.  It was a damn nightmare to dig the hole, but we managed.  So far, everyone loves it,”  Cas said.

“Cas loves the ducks as much as I do.  He’ll sit in the grass, and they’ll actually walk right up to him and eat from his hands.  Last summer he had the babies crawling all over him.  We’re considering getting a couple of chickens.  Everyone around here has some, and they’re supposed to really help with insect control.  This year there’s an increase in fleas and ticks.  We don’t have an issue yet, but it’s a matter of time.”  Dean got up to check the food.

They talked until the food was ready for eating, and with everyone working together, they brought the rest of the meal and condiments outside so they could enjoy the warm evening air.  The conversation flowed easily as everyone talked about work, about the kids, and about their upcoming summer plans.  Adam and Alyssa announced they had another baby on the way, and it was Cas who was the most excited about that.

“I can’t  _ wait _ to have another sweet baby to spoil!”  He prattled on about all the things he wanted to get the baby when it arrived, and Dean watched him fondly.  Cas had fit himself so perfectly into Dean’s life and was as much a part of the family now as Jess and Alyssa were.

“Oh, I got something to tell you guys,”  Dean said, sitting forward and setting his beer on the table.  All conversation came to an end and everyone looked  at him, waiting to hear what it was.

“You’re not getting relocated, are you?”  Sam asked worriedly.

“Nah, Bobby loves me.”  Dean chuckled. 

“What is it?”  Alyssa asked.

“I, uh, asked Cas to marry me last week.  We sort of invited you guys here to make a formal announcement.” 

Adam nearly spit out the sip of beer he’d just taken while Jess and Alyssa both squealed excitedly.

“Oh my God!  I didn’t notice a ring!  Is there a ring?  I want to see it!”  Jess demanded.  Cas laughed happily as he held his left hand up.

“How on earth did I miss  _ that _ ?”  Sam asked of no one in particular.

“You weren’t looking for it, that’s why.”  Dean had an arm around the back of Cas’ shoulder, and he pulled the man closer so he could kiss him.  “I figured out a long time ago that he was the one.  Probably three or four months in.  It felt too soon then, so I waited.  About six months back I started looking for rings.”

“He’s so picky.  Took him until last month to choose one, and then he got it engraved and waited for that to be done,”  Cas added.

“What does it say?”  Alyssa asked.

Cas actually blushed and leaned against Dean.

“It’s private.”

“Dean being a perv?”  Adam laughed.

“No, it’s just, it’s very personal, between him and I,”  Cas explained.  “He says something equally as personal will be engraved in both of our wedding bands, but I’m picking what will be added to his.  I’m still considering what I want to say.”

“When is the wedding?  I want to help plan it.”  Jess looked at Alyssa, who nodded in agreement.

“We are aiming for this fall.  We’re getting married where we met,”  Cas replied.

“Isn’t that right here?”  Sam asked.

“Yes it is.  It will be a tight fit, but we want to get married right there by the pond.”  Dean said.  “We’re doing the reception at a hall downtown though.  We expect about 50 guests at the wedding and about three times that at the reception.  Wedding will be kid free, but they’re welcome at the reception.  Only because there really won’t be room to watch them.  Wedding is at 2 p.m., reception starts at 6.  That’ll give everyone time to grab their kids.  September 16 th .  Mark your calendars.”

“Wow, you guys already got the hall rented and everything?”  Sam was both surprised and impressed.

“Jody’s brother owns the hall, and he reserved the date when she asked him to.  We’re getting a discount, too,”  Dean replied.

“Tell me I get to at least help decorate,”  Jess begged.

“Absolutely, and I need help picking out a suit,”  Cas said.

“Have you told your mom yet?”  Adam asked.  “Or Dad?”

“Yep.  Broke the news to both our folks the day after, and during the week he’s been calling all of his brothers and sisters to let them know.  Naomi is even excited.  Never thought I’d see the day  _ that _ would happen,”  Dean nudged Cas playfully.

“Yes, I admit, I’m rather surprised by it too,”  Cas agreed.

“I am calling florists first thing Monday morning,”  Jess announced.

“We need to figure out the whole wedding party first.  Oh!  And I know an amazing tailor, he did Adam’s suit for our wedding.  And what about food?  I know a great caterer!”  Alyssa was rambling on, talking with Jess as Adam and Sam tried to get their wives to slow down.  Dean just smiled and kissed Cas softly on the temple.

“I love you, babe.” 

‘I love you too.”  Cas leaned into the kiss Dean pressed to his forehead.  “I never thought I’d find the person I wanted to spend my life with.”

Dean smiled.  “Me either.”  He touched the ring on Cas’ finger with the hand not carding through the man’s hair.  “My very own Doctor Sexy.”

Cas’ laughter was soft as he gazed fondly at the ring on his hand.  It felt right sitting there.

“What must the jeweler have thought when you engraved  _ that _ into my ring?”  His eyes sparkled with amusement.  Dean loved seeing him happy like this.

“She raised an eyebrow, but we did have an interesting conversation on where the storyline is going for the season.  She’s a fan too.”

“Oh god…”  Cas let out a groan that was more of a laugh than anything.  “Of course you’d find another fan.  I think you’re all like, psychically linked or something.”

“Shut up, you like the show too.”  Dean poked him in the ribs, making him laugh even more.

“I think I know what I’m having engraved on your ring.”  Cas brushed the tips of his fingers over the spot where in just a few months’ time a wedding band would permanently be resting.

“Yeah?  Is it something about undying love, or maybe about my-”

“Hush!” Cas slapped his hand.  Dean laughed and kissed his cheek.

“So guessing not?”

“No, not at all.  I think I’ve settled on two simple words.”  Cas linked his fingers with Dean’s and imagined how wonderful their hands would look together when they were both wearing their rings.

“Only two?  I’m curious.”  Dean folded his hand so he was holding Cas’ better.

“Mmhmm.  My hero.”  Cas looked up to see warm green eyes full of love watching him.

“Yeah?”  Dean smiled before kissing him softly.

“Yes.  You’re my own personal superhero.  And infinitely sexier than Captain America.”

Dean liked hearing that.  Captain America was really freaking  _ hot _ .

“Well, I have two words for your wedding band too.”

“Oh?”

Dean couldn’t resist stealing another kiss.

“Yeah.  My angel.”

“Stop, you’re going to make me cry and then I won’t give you any pie.”  Cas shoved him playfully. 

“There’s pie?  But I thought there were brownies.” 

“There are, but I made you pie.  Cherry berry.  It’s an experiment, but the filling tasted phenomenal,”  Cas said.

“You spoil me.”  Dean liked it though, and Cas knew it.

“Heroes deserve to be spoiled from time to time.” 

“You really are my angel,”  Dean said, and he absolutely meant that.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that read this, and I hope you all enjoyed my first real foray into a crime based story. Sure, it didn't start out that way, but I saw an opportunity and I took it, lol. I hope you'll be around for the next story, and all the ones after that. There will be a megabang that I will be posting on July 14th, so stay tuned for that. I'm working with a fabulous artist and I put a lot of work into that particular storyline. I have high hopes for it. This is me teasing you. I can't give details, but you only have to wait 3 weeks! I love you guys!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it! Kudos and comments are always welcome.


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